CSI: Bristol
by lizardwriter
Summary: A murder's been committed in Bristol. Can Katie, Cook, James, Emily, Effy, and others solve it before the killer strikes again? Lots of pairings. Completely AU. Will have all the characters! Disclaimer: I don't own Skins or the characters.
1. A Killer Is Born part 1

**A/N: This is completely AU, but some of the events of s3 still happened in the characters' pasts. This is set probably roughly ten years after they've left Roundview. Even if your favourite character doesn't appear in the first chapter, rest assured that EVERYONE (including Freds) will be in this (including future Naomily). Also a lot of research has gone into this, but some things I've had to change from what it's really like to make the story work. Part 2 will be posted next Sunday. Please Read and REVIEW!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing recognizable from Skins. That is all out of the brilliant mind of someone else. Also, I'm not profiting off of this in any way shape or form and I have no money, so please don't sue.**

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It was amazing really how little effort it had actually taken. For such a big bloke, he really hadn't put up much of a fight. Then again he probably hadn't been expecting one either. Blood vessels in his eyes popping...now that had been satisfying as the pressure had built and he'd fought for air, staring back with a dumb astonished expression on his face. Of course by then it had been too late. The only thing was that it had lacked a little...flare.

.

.

Katie and Cook exchange a look and a sigh. Another crime scene contaminated by the fucking paramedics. The man was clearly dead for fuck's sake! Nobody looked like that when they were alive!

Katie moves closer, stopping to mark potential evidence and photograph it as she picks her way carefully through the crime scene, leaving Cook to interview the first responders, not trusting herself not to yell at them.

"James watch where you're fucking going!" Katie yells, looking up just in time to see her idiotic little brother traipsing right up to the body. She pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to calm herself when James looks up sheepishly with an apologetic grin on his face. He's brand new after all. Straight out of the fucking academy! He'd learn though. Even if the only reason that he'd gotten an assignment on the Major Crimes Investigation Unit (MCIU) was because of the promise that his sisters were some of the best and brightest that the force and the crime lab had ever seen.

Katie notices a glint of something on the bottom of his boot. She approaches him carefully, watching the ground, keenly aware of her surroundings so as to not corrupt the scene any further. She looks down and notes the pool of blood distorted where James's boot had clearly dragged through it. "Fuck's sake, James! You need to watch where you're going, yeah?"

"Sorry, Katie," James mumbles.

"Those are evidence now, you realise," Katie indicates the boots.

"What? No! Come on! They're new!" James argues.

Katie shines her flashlight on them and realised that the blood doesn't look right. It's too shiny and...metallic? She bends down and examines it closer. "Glitter? What the fuck is this doing here?"

"What?" James inquires curiously, crouching down to get a better look at what his sister is seeing.

"There's fucking red glitter mixed in with the blood! What the fuck? Who bleeds glitter?" Katie turns her attention to the dead body, taking it in fully for the first time. Katie takes a stunned step back as recognition dawns. "Cook!" she bellows.

"What's up, darling? Can't handle a little blood?" Cook teases as he approaches.

Katie shoots him a glare. "Fuck you! You know I've seen plenty worse!" Katie and Cook's faces grow serious for a second as both of them flash back to more horrific cases. They've been partners for five long years no and they don't have to ask to know which nightmares they happen to be reliving.

"Well, what's up then, cupcake?" Cook breaks out of it first, shooting Katie a grin because he knows she hates when he calls her that.

"It's Doug," Katie replies, remembering why she'd called him over to begin with. "At least, I think it is," she adds because the man has gained a few pounds since the last time she's seen him and he's decidedly more...dead.

"What?" Cook looks down at the corpse in confusion, then back up at Katie with a curt nod once realisation kicks in. "Oh. From Roundview College," he states matter-of-factly.

"Seems like ages ago," Katie states blandly.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was a nightmare," JJ smiles.

"Better late than never, _Doctor_ Jones," Cook grins and greets his old friend with a slap on the back.

Katie had scoffed when she'd first found out that JJ was going to become a medical examiner. She'd figured that he'd get locked on at every dead body he'd see. He'd proved her wrong. In fact, when he was at work, you could hardly tell that he had Asperger's Syndrome. His interactions were always friendly and professional, and he was nothing if not meticulous when going over a corpse. In the year that she'd been working with him, Katie had really started to respect him.

JJ pulls on his gloves and bends over the body, feeling for a pulse more because it's good practise than because he thinks that the man might still be alive. He examines the body clinically, taking in the petechiae under the eyelids, the bruising around the neck, the stab wound to the chest and the small pool of glistening blood around the body with a smear through it. "Who stepped in the blood?"

"James," Katie sighs. "Speaking of which, Cook, can you bag his boots?"

Cook nods. "Right, kid. Stand right there. I've got an extra pair of boots in the back of the car. I'll grab them for you." Cook wonders off smiling to himself. He likes James. Sees a lot of himself in the kid. Sees the potential that he thinks his sisters often overlook.

James stands patiently, not moving for fear he'll fuck up even more.

"C.O.D.?" Katie inquires.

"There's not enough blood for him to have bled out. It's got to be strangulation. See the bruising around the neck?" JJ points. "Not done by hands though. Or rope I don't think. I'll know better when I take pictures of the subdermal bruising." JJ picks up the man's hands, examining the way the fingernails look a bit distressed. "Minimal defensive wounds. Looks like he might have been trying to claw at whatever was strangling him. I'll check for fibers under the nails when we're back at the morgue."

Katie nods. "Why's there blood though? Once the heart stops beating, you stop bleeding!"

"It's possible that the suspect put enough pressure to knock the victim unconscious before stabbing him, then proceeded to finish the job with strangulation. What the purpose of that would be, I don't know," JJ sighs. "Once I examine him thoroughly back at the morgue I may have more answers for you."

"Thanks, Jay," Katie smiles at him.

"Do we have an I.D. on the vic?" JJ inquires.

Katie puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Look at him, Jay. It's Doug. From Roundview?"

JJ takes in the face for a minute, looking not at the bruising, but at the face as a whole. "Oh," he says a moment later. "Right. Well, let's get Doug back to the morgue then."

Katie leaves JJ to tend to the body. Cook has wandered back and is placing James's boots in a large evidence bag, sealing it and initialling it, as per protocol.

"I'd better get those back once they're processed," James mumbles, pulling on the spare pair of Cook's boots which are only a little big on him. "Fucking good pair of boots they are."

"Oi! Watch your mouth!" Katie slaps him upside the head. "Quit stepping in evidence, and we'll stop having to bag your boots, yeah?"

"Right," James grumbles.

"Think you can manage to work the camera?" Katie asks handing it to him. "Step where I step, ok? I tag it, you photograph it, then I'll bag it, got it?"

James nods and follows after his sister. He can tell already it's going to be a long night.

He was still so happy and chipper after all these years. Fat lot of good that had done anyone! Including him at the end. He had to be the only person in the field of education who hadn't let it jade him. Still...he could have done more. No! He should have done more! All his cheerfulness didn't help anyone out in the real world! He'd definitely had it coming.

His death had been quick...almost too quick. It had still managed to have a bit more flare, though not enough. Something was still missing.

.

.

"What do you have for me?" the short, redheaded crime lab tech looked up brightly and smiles at her younger brother.

James sheepishly holds up his bagged boots.

Emily rolls her eyes. "Again? James!"

"I know, I know! Katie's already reamed me out, yeah? I don't need another lecture," James scowls.

"Then maybe you should be more careful at crime scenes," Emily scolds, taking the bag from him. "What else do you have?"

James hands her a small box with the other evidence bags in it. "Here you go, Em. Blood, about twenty cigarette butts, and a bunch of other rubbish most of which probably won't have anything to do with our murder," James rattles off in almost a perfect imitation of Cook when he'd handed over the box of evidence earlier.

Emily laughs, recognizing at once where the influence on James's words had come from. Her brother is still far too eager and fresh to sound so jaded. "Right, well I'll get processing everything then," Emily makes a new slit in the bag with her brother's boots in it and pulls them out gingerly over some wax paper that collect some dirt and bits of crusted blood. Emily examines them with a frown. "James? Why is there glitter on the bottom of your boots?"

"It's not from me!" James defends himself. "It was in the blood!"

Emily's brows furrow in puzzlement. "Why?"

James shrugs. "Dunno." He lingers, feels he's forgetting something.

Emily looks back up at him in a minute, swab hovering above the sole of his boots. "Is there something else?"

I think so," James admits.

Emily sighs and rests her hand on the table. "You _think_ so? Well what is it then?"

"I don't remember," James shrugs sheepishly.

"Well what was it in relation to?"

"The victim," James remembers. "Something about who he is. I dunno why Katie wanted me to tell you anyway. His wallet's in there with his I.D. in it. I think Katie knew him or something. Cook too. A don or Dan or…It started with a D, I'm fairly certain."

Emily's curiosity is peaked so she rummages through the box of evidence, sees two wallets bagged and pulls them both out giving James a questioning glance.

"The velcro one," James nods to the navy Zoological Society of London wallet. "I mean what kind of a grown man carries a Velcro wallet for fuck's sake!"

Emily scowls. "It's not nice to speak ill of the dead, James. Especially when they're a murder victim."

"All I'm saying is that I've got a proper leather wallet, Cook's got a proper leather wallet, Dad's got a proper leather wallet…"

"Shut up, James!" Emily cuts him short. She's pulled out the license and is staring down at a familiar friendly, open face. She shakes her head sadly. "Poor Doug."

"Doug! That's it! From Roundview! That's what Katie wanted me to tell you," James smiles triumphantly, proud that he's remembered.

Emily rolls her eyes. "Yes, thanks. You've been ever so helpful, as always, James," she informs him sarcastically.

He takes it as the dismissal it is and saunters off leaving Emily staring sadly at the licensee. In another minute she pulls herself together and begins systematically processing the evidence. She's a professional after all.

.

.

"How's my favourite ballistics specialist?" Cook inquires with a toothy grin.

Effy tucks her long brown hair behind her ear and shoots him a thin smile in return. She nods to Katie with a sly wink who nods back with a subtle smile in greeting. "Overworked and underpaid," she replies matter-of-factly. "As soon as I finish test-firing this glock, I've got to go help Em in the lab. It's ridiculous how short staffed we are! I can't believe they're threatening more budget cuts!"

"Seriously! How do they expect us to ever solve crimes," Katie sympathises.

"As long as the crimes don't directly effect them, I'm not sure they care," Effy says cynically.

"Strange crime scene tonight," Cook informs her.

"Oh?" Effy sounds almost bored, but Katie's known her long enough to catch the glimmer of interest in her piercing blue eyes.

"Vic was strangled enough to knock him unconscious, stabbed, then strangled dead before he could bleed out. That's JJ's theory at the moment anyway," Katie elaborated.

One of Effy's eyebrows shoots up in curiosity.

"We know the vic too," Cook adds.

"Oh?" Effy sounds more interested now.

"Good old Douggie from our dear alma mater, Roundview College," Cook says dryly.

Effy shakes her head. "Maybe a student finally got sick of his bonding activities."

Cook laughs, but Katie scowls.

"There's a lot of evidence, probably mostly irrelevant, but Ems will probably appreciate the help," Cook lets her know.

"K. I'll be up when I finish this," Effy nods and pulls her headphones on. Cook leaves, having said what he'd come to say. Katie lingers, pulls on headphones of her own and watches the girl shoot with an appreciative eye. "Never gets old," she grins when Effy's removed her headphones again and looks up to meet her gaze. She takes her headphones off, placing them back on the table.

She smiles back seductively. "I know what you mean. Something about a girl with a gun is just soooo sexy." She looks pointedly at the pistol holstered at Katie's waist and Katie feels herself getting hot.

"Exactly," Katie murmures.

Effy extracts the bullet and bags and tags it for later comparison. The two start to walk towards the stairs leading up to Emily's lab side by side.

"We still on for Friday night?" Katie inquires.

"Definitely,"Effy grins.

"Good." They continue walking. "Oh and I forgot to tell you the kicker! There was glitter mixed in with the blood! Why would you do that?"

Effy shrugs. "To make it sparkly!" She wiggles her hands at the last word, imitating a sparkle and laughs.

Katie chuckles despite herself. "Yeah. But why?"


	2. A Killer Is Born part 2

"Quite curious, this," JJ mutters more to himself than to Katie and Cook who are standing expectantly in the morgue, waiting for him to explain further.

When he doesn't, Katie clears her throat. Another minute passes and Katie and Cook exchange a glance. They both know how JJ can get: so focused on his work that he doesn't register anyone or anything else.

"Jay! Mate! What's curious?" Cook finally interrupts the young man.

JJ looks up, almost surprised to find the two cops still standing there. "Oh. Well, simply the fact that the neck area smells faintly of a woman's perfume. I couldn't smell it at the scene, but here in the morgue it is much more apparent."

Katie wrinkles her nose. To her the morgue always smells of death.

"I'll swab his neck. See if there are enough remnants for a sample to test. If you come close you can probably smell it. Just don't touch the body," JJ instructs.

"Perfume's not really my forte, mate," Cook declines.

Katie shrugs. She's already got the smell of death in her nostrils, can't be too much worse mixed with perfume, she figures. She approaches the body cautiously, long hair already swept back in a pony tail to keep it out of her face and away from evidence. She leans over and sniffs where JJ indicates and makes a face. "It's cheap stuff."

"How do you know?" JJ looks up in surprise.

"Jay, seriously, it's pretty easy to tell," Katie assures him as she backs away from the body.

JJ shrugs and Katie's reminded that although he is potentially the most capable medical examiner Bristol's seen in years, he's still rather naive and inexperienced when it comes to certain things like women.

"Anything else for us, mate?" Cook inquires and JJ shakes his head.

"Not yet. I'll send anything relevant up to Ems," JJ assures them.

"Thanks, Jay!" Katie says.

"Thanks!" Cook echoes as they leave the morgue.

.

.

"Perfume's not going to be any help," Emily sighs.

"Why not?" Katie demands.

"I looked it up using the chemical components and it's cheap and readily available at any Boots all over the UK. It doesn't really narrow down the suspect pool," Emily points out. "That's assuming the smell of perfume came from the suspect to begin with rather than Doug spraying himself with it. The trace was small but if he'd put it on a while before he was murdered…"

"Got it," Katie grumbles.

"It was a female's perfume, but you remember Doug. He might not necessarily know the difference. He'd probably spray it on himself if he thought it smelled nice, not to speak ill of the dead," Emily rolls her eyes.

"True," Katie concedes. "So what else do you have for me?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Emily admits. "I've sent out DNA from the dozens of cigarette butts to the Forensic Submission Team, but I have a feeling that they're going to come back with dozens of different DNA profiles."

Katie nods glumly. "Figured as much on that."

"Hey, babe," Effy murmurs as she enters the room and Katie bites her lip to repress a smile.

Emily rolls her eyes. "Just think of all the hassle you gave me for being gay."

"Shut up," Katie shoves her playfully.

"That's police harassment!" Emily threatens, but Katie knows she doesn't mean it.

"I wouldn't mind being harassed by you," Effy interjects seductively, and Katie feels a chill run down her spine.

"Aren't we supposed to be focusing on this little thing called a murder investigation?" Emily asks and shakes her head. She's all for her sister having a love life, and since it's started involving Effy, Emily's felt a bit smug, because she'd secretly wondered all along if Katie's homophobia was really just fear that people would recognize that she might not be completely straight herself. Still, there was a time and a place.

"Right, yes!" Effy agrees. "About that…I've eliminated most pocket knives as a possible weapon for the puncture wound. They just wouldn't create the type of damage seen in the wound track. I'm going to move on to hunting knives, but there are strange markings…I'm leaning towards it not being a knife at all, personally. I'll keep testing and taking moulds. I'll get back to you when I've got a definite answer."

"Thanks, Eff," Katie smiles.

"I've typed all of the blood samples, and it's all the same blood type, so I'm guessing it's all Doug's. We'll have to wait on DNA to confirm that though," Emily offers.

"So basically, we have damn all. We have cheap perfume that you can buy anywhere that as far as we know the victim sprayed on himself, a few dozen probable DNA samples from the scene, no weapon for the puncture wound, and no evidence of any injury done to the murderer," Katie sums up.

"Basically," Emily agrees.

"You'll just have to go out there and put those amazing investigative skills to work, Detective Sergeant Fitch," Effy grins and Katie has to return the grin.

"Ugh, seriously? I can't believe you ever complained about me and any of my girlfriends. You two are ten times worse on the nauseatingly cute scale," Emily pretends to gag.

"Shut up, Ems!" Katie rolls her eyes at her sister, then winks at Effy before leaving the lab.

"Don't forget Fitch family dinner on Thursday night!" Emily calls after her.

"Can't wait til I get to come to one of those," Effy grins.

Emily shakes her head. "You'll be eating those words one of these days," Emily informs her before Effy shoots her a wink and leaves her alone with her evidence.

.

.

"There's no marriage records for Doug," Katie informs Cook and James as she searches the computer database.

"Are you really surprised?" Cook lets out a harsh laugh and James chuckles.

"Cook! A little respect?" Katie reprimands, shooting a glare at her younger brother.

"Sorry," Cook and James grumble in unison.

Katie continues to search. "No siblings," she mutters aloud. "Parents deceased. God, what a lonely existence."

"Maybe he just didn't want to settle! Shag a different babe every night! You know, how the Cookie Monster does," Cook teases and thrusts his hips forward with a little grunt for added emphasis. James high-fives him.

Katie rolls her eyes. She'd given up hope a few years back that he would drop that nickname for himself, but he hadn't. Now she's just used to it. She's also learned that a lot of what he says is just talk. The last time Cook had a date was well over a month ago. "Cook, this is Doug we're talking about here," Katie reminds him.

"You said respect! I was giving him a little respect. A little credit," Cook replies defensively.

"Ok, but given the victim, I think perhaps a bit too much credit, yeah?" Katie suggests.

Cook grins. "Maybe. Still, old Doug coulda had a girlfriend or something. Not like there's a paper trail for that."

Katie nods. "True, but we're not going to find out by sitting at a computer. Work or landlord first?"

"What?" James asks, lost by the apparent jump in the conversation.

They ignore his question.

Cook mulls over the choice for a minute, absent-mindedly spinning a pen around his fingers. "Work," Cook decides.

"What about work?" James voices his confusion.

"Work it is," Katie agrees, grabbing her coat and standing up. "Let's go back to Roundview."

"Guys! What're we doing?" James calls after Katie and Cook as they stride away. "Guys?" He grabs his coat and scrambles after them.

.

.

"Funny how it still feels like I'm about to get in trouble even though it's been years," Cook mutters as he and Katie stand looking up at Roundview College. Cook's having a fag before the go in to question some of the teachers and whatnot about Doug.

They'd decided it was best if James stayed behind for now. Tact was still not the boy's strongpoint.

It hasn't changed much, despite the passage of time except that the students now rushing past them to get into the building seem so young and naïve. Katie can't help wondering when that happened exactly, when college aged students started really seeming like "kids" to her.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Katie murmurs, because the knowledge that they're going to be heading to the director's office is twisting her gut nervously.

Cook flicks away his fag and they look at each other, take a deep breath, and head into Roundview.

"Pandora?" Katie gapes, mouth hanging open when she walks into the main office. She hasn't seen the girl in at least four years. Katie can't help thinking that there's still a childlike innocence that surrounds her.

"Katie! And Cook! Wowzers, it's wicked good to see both of you! You both look absolutely fan-flipping-tastic!" Pandora greets them enthusiastically and Katie thinks silently that it's rather good that some things never change as Pandora rushes around from behind her desk and crushes them both in a bear hug.

"Yeah, you too," Katie returns when she's done being winded from the shock of the hug. She pats Pandora awkwardly on the back, almost tugging her away because this is both awkward and extremely unprofessional.

Cook, of course, loves it, and hugs back just as tightly. "Too right, Panda! Right back at you, babe!"

Pandora releases them reluctantly, but continues to beam at them. She catches sight of a professor walking past frowning disapprovingly and she remembers that she's at work. "Sorry, I'm supposed to say: Welcome to Roundview College, a meeting place for young people where we expand young hearts and minds!" she beams at them.

Cook barks out a laugh. "And cocks too if I remember correctly."

Katie can tell that Pandora's been trained to recite this like as part of a welcome to the college script, but really it's a bit ridiculous that she feels the need to say it to them. It's as if she's been scolded in the past for not saying it. Katie rolls her eyes at Cook, though in the years she's been working with him she's adjusted to his constant inappropriate comments. She's even appreciated them at times.

Pandora continues to grin at them for a minute before a puzzled frown spreads across her face and her brows furrow. "What are you doing here?"

Katie sighs and flashes her badge. "We're here on official business, Panda."

" Wow! That's brill! Nothing interesting ever happens around here! What's happened now?" the blonde gushes.

Katie briefly reflects back on her time at Roundview and decides that she definitely wouldn't classify it as uneventful, but maybe things have changed. As a group of students go back and one suddenly takes off chasing another while the others are left to hoot and holler, she decides that they probably haven't changed all that much. "Panda, we're here to see the college director and we're going to need to interview some of the teachers."

"Why?" Pandora inquires.

Katie and Cook exchange a look. Katie's not sure how Pandora might take the news about Doug. They did get along after all. Unfortunately, that probably just means that Pandora would be a good person to interview, and the look on Cook's face lets Katie know that he thinks the same.

"Panda, you might want to have a seat," Katie says gently.

"Why? What's going on?" Pandora asks, still looking ridiculously innocent.

"Panda, love, I think Katie's right on this one. Why don't you seat yourself down there, yeah?" Cook seconds, indicating the seat behind the desk.

They can both see the apprehension on Pandora's face as she steps back around the desk and takes a seat in her chair. "It's all swivelly, see?" Pandora mentions, forcing a smile and twisting the chair to demonstrate.

Katie smiles, placating her. "It's nice."

"Panda," Cook begins, then pauses and looks at Katie for support. He's not really so keen on delivering bad news. Katie does it loads better anyway.

"We're here about Doug," Katie explains.

"Doug, Doug? Our Doug?" Pandora asks in confusion.

Katie nods. "Doug Sparrow."

"He hasn't been to work for a few days. I was going to go round to his today after school because the new headmaster is about ready to go all flippity freaking on him if he doesn't show up tomorrow," Pandora starts to ramble.

"He won't be in tomorrow," Katie says softly.

"What? Why?" Pandora's confused expression returns.

"Panda, I'm very sorry to be the one to tell you this, but," Katie glances quickly at Cook who nods encouragingly, "Doug's dead."

Pandora's face goes pale and she slumps back in the chair. She's visibly shaken.

"You ok?" Katie asks in concern, kneeling beside the girl who was once a good friend.

"Dead?" Pandora repeats sounding like a lost little kid.

"Sorry, Panda," Cook mumbles. He really is crap at this emotional stuff. It just makes him feel awkward. It's a good thing Katie's good at it. It's one of the reasons that they work so well as partners. They balance each other out.

Cook puts an awkward hand on Pandora's shoulder and she manages a weak smile up at him. "What happened?" Pandora inquires softly.

"He was murdered," Katie replies, voice equally as soft.

"Murdered?" Pandora echoes, eyes bulging. "But who…" Pandora drifts off, shock still evident on her face.

"That's why we're here. We need to find out how might have wanted him dead," Katie explains.

"But…No one! You know Doug! He was nice! And friendly! And funny! And a wicked dancer!" Pandora splutters.

"So nobody had any issues with him? None of the students or parents threatened him or anything?" Cook interjects. Questioning people he was good at.

"No!" Pandora sounds baffled at the idea of it. "Well, Kieran maybe, but…"

"Who doesn't Kieran have an issue with?" Katie finishes under her breath.

"Exactly!" Pandora exclaims.

"Right, but maybe all that pent up anger got the best of him?" Cook suggests.

"What pent up anger? I thought he took it out on us," Katie comments dryly with a small smile.

Cook lets out a small laugh but Pandora just looks between them, an appalled expression on her face.

"How can you two laugh?"

"Sorry," Katie mumbles. Katie nods her head to the side while staring pointedly at Cook, trying to indicate that they should step away to converse a bit more privately.

"Guess we'll need to question Kieran," Cook mumbles under his breath when they've moved away a bit.

"Can you really see Kieran with glitter though?" Katie inquires sceptically. Sure, Kieran's got a temper, and certainly he's got some anger issues, but she's having issues picturing her old professor as a murderer.

Cook makes a face indicating that he can't. "Still. It's the best lead we've got."

Katie nods. She moves back towards Pandora. "Panda?"

"Yes?" Pandora looks up, clearly trying to be helpful.

"Was Doug close with anyone? Anyone who might know him a little better? Or have any ideas about other trouble that he might have been having in his life?" Katie asks.

Pandora glances around and leans in conspiratorially. "Well, he did talk rather a lot about Harriet," Pandora whispers dramatically.

The name rings a bell but Katie can't quite place it. It's Cook who makes the connection. Just another reason they work so well as partners. If one of them misses something or can't remember it, the other one almost always can. "Hohoho!" Cook chuckles in a way that's so reminiscent of Katie's ex Danny that it's almost creepy. Then again, Katie remembers that they did hang out for a bit just after Cook finished college and was considering becoming a footballer instead of a police officer. "Harriet the old headmistress?" Cook asks, glee at this juicy tidbit evident on his face.

"Harriet Lawes?" Katie asks, shock evident in her voice.

"Uh-huh!" Pandora confirms with a nod and a smile.

Katie's eyes widen in surprise. "Well that's...unexpected."

"I think they've been dating for ages!" Pandora informs them. "On and off. She's a bit of a control-y crazy pants in my opinion, but Doug seems to really like her...Oh...seemed, not seems, oh bollocks." The dejected look returns to Pandora's face and Katie pats her on the back comfortingly.

"It'll be alright, Panda," Katie offers soothingly.

Tears were beginning to trickle down the blonde's face. Katie knows that as soon as the tears start, Cook gets antsy to leave.

"We need to go talk to a few people now, Panda, ok? Will you be alright?" Katie asks and she catches Cook breathing a small sigh of relief and taking a step towards the door. He's so predictable sometimes.

Pandora wipes at her tears and nods.

Katie still can't believe how young and innocent the girl seems, even after all these years. "We'll look in again before we leave, ok?" Katie offers. They used to be friends after all. Maybe it's time they become friends again. It definitely looks like Pandora could use a friend right now. "And we should go out for drinks soon and catch up," Katie adds.

Pandora manages a smile. "That would be fun!"

"Great. We'll see you in a bit," Katie returns the smile before following Cook out of the office.


	3. A Killer Is Born part 3

"Fitch! Cook! Little Fitch!" Chief Superintendent Tomone beckons from the doorway of his office.

Katie sighs. She's been expecting him to make them update him soon. She and Cook head towards his office. James follows along behind with a scowl on his face. He doesn't understand why he has to be called Little Fitch just because he's younger. He's a good foot taller than Katie after all.

"What's up Thommo," Cook asks, sprawling into a chair once he's in the office.

"Where are we on the Sparrow case, please?" Thomas asks them, his accent now faded into a much more British version of itself. Katie and Cook don't even notice it anymore.

Neither of them had been surprised when Thomas had risen through the ranks quickly. For starters, he was a good cop. Secondly, it was mostly politics, and Thomas knew how to play the game. He knew when to turn on the charm, he knew when to play dumb, and he knew when to push a little harder. They'd seen that first hand when Thomas had taken on Johnny White without flinching when they were still kids. It's only slightly weird having someone who they consider their peer be their boss. Thomas is a fair boss though, so it isn't really an issue.

"A whole lot of nowhere really," Katie replies.

"Ems says the physical evidence isn't really getting us very far," James offers.

Thomas sighs.

"Headmaster was a waste of time," Cook mentions. "Complete wanker too. Didn't want to give us the time of day even after we flashed our badges."

"He was on a bit of a high horse," Katie agrees, a disdainful look on her face. "Couldn't think of any enemies Doug might've had, though to be honest, I'm not sure he'd know. He was more annoyed at the fact that Doug hadn't been into work, when the poor man's been dead."

"He sounds a bit insensitive," Thomas remarks.

"You could say that," Cook replies. "Personally I'd call him a right fucking-"

"Cook!" Katie scolds before he can finish his sentence. They've already bashed the man. Doing it more isn't going to solve the murder. Besides, whatever Cook's about to say is not going to be pleasant.

Cook rolls his eyes, but he shuts up.

James smirks. He likes it when Cook gets told off by Katie because it means that for once it's not him getting told off.

"The other teachers were equally as unhelpful," Katie continues. "I think they all secretly did their best to avoid Doug."

"Yeah, but can you blame them? He was a bit...overly cheerful," James comments, careful to be as tactful as he can so that Katie doesn't turn her scorn back on him.

"True. Kid's got a point!" Cook agrees whole heartedly.

"Right, well, still, we did learn two useful things from Panda," Katie says, rolling her eyes at the boys. Truth is she can't help but agree with their assessment.

"Panda?" Thomas keys into the name instantly. "Pandora Moon?"

Katie and Cook exchange a glance. They know that Pandora's a bit of a sore point for Thomas. They never were able to make things work between them and Katie and Cook both know that it one of Thomas's bigger regrets. They both know that he's lost touch with her.

"Yeah, mate. She's working at Roundview these days," Cook informs him as gingerly as he knows how.

"Oh. I see," Thomas sits down heavily in his chair.

James squirms uncomfortably. He's heard of Pandora from a few stories his sister's had told him, but he certainly isn't expecting his boss to react like he is to the girl's name. She was a bit of a loony anyway, as far as James can tell, though he knows that Katie used to be good friends with her.

Thomas forces a smile. "Well I am sure she is happy there," he says.

"She seemed to be enjoying it. Until we told her about Doug, that is," Cook assures him.

"Good," Thomas replies, smile still plastered on his face. "So what was the useful information she supplied?"

"Well she mentioned that Kieran Mac Foeinaiugh might have had issues with him and that Doug was romantically involved with Harriet Lawes," Katie informs Thomas.

Thomas's smile turns genuine at the mention of Kieran. "Ah yes. Kieran. I remember him well. I am not surprised that he might have had problems with Doug. And that name, Harriet Lawes, it sounds familiar." His expression turns thoughtful as he tries to recall where he knows the name from.

"It should do, mate. She was the headmistress our first year at Roundview," Cook supplies.

"Ah yes! Really? Doug and her? I have trouble seeing that," Thomas muses.

"Join the club," Katie mutters.

"So did you interview Kieran at the school?" Thomas demands.

"Nah, mate. He wasn't there. Called in sick or something," Cook informs him.

"Well that could be viewed as a bit suspicious," Thomas muses. "I assume you are going to bring him in for questioning?"

"Our shift's almost over!" Cook complains.

"And a murderer is on the loose," Thomas reasons in a way that leaves no room for discussion.

"Right. Of course. We were just about to go around to his house," Katie assures Thomas with a glare at Cook.

"And you will talk to Harriet tomorrow?" Thomas asks in a way that makes it clear that it's not so much a question as an order.

"Yeah, right. Course," Cook grumbles.

"Thomas?" Katie says hesitantly.

"Yes, Katie?"

"This crime has some very specific touches to it. The evidence isn't getting us anywhere, but maybe if we had the help of a forensic psychologist they could read more into it," Katie suggests.

Thomas considers this for a second then shakes his head. "Perhaps, but I do not think we could get one right now. Avon and Somerset doesn't have one on staff and I hardly think that the Metropolitan Police will send one all the way out to us for one murder."

Katie nods. She's been expecting that answer, but she thought it was worth a try.

"Keep me posted on what you learn," Thomas requests and Cook and Katie both start to leave, taking it for the dismissal that it is.

Katie grabs James's arm on the way out, dragging him along.

"You two go pick up Kieran, ok?" Katie says when they're outside the office.

"Why? Where're you going?" James demands insolently, earning him a glare from his sister.

"To talk to Emily about the evidence," Katie replies. It's a half truth. Cook recognizes it as such.

"And to check in with your girlfriend perhaps?" he teases.

Katie shrugs with a slight smirk. "Maybe," she admits.

"How come you get to flirt while we have to do all the work," James protests and Katie goes to slap him, because James just had to sit at a desk looking for information (not that he found any) all day while she and Cook had interviewed a dozen unhelpful teachers.

Cook intervenes, dragging James away. "Because your sister's really the brains of this operation, but this is a brawn mission," he explains as they walk away. He likes seeing Katie and Effy together. He's long over any romantic feelings he had for either of them. He sees that they make each other happy, even if the relationship is still in its developing stages, and goodness knows that finding somebody that makes you happy is hard enough in life, let alone in their line of work.

Katie smiles even as she shakes her head. Cook knows full well that she's quite good at the brawn aspect of their job. Still, she takes the compliment as she heads off to find Effy.

.

.

"Don't suppose you've discovered something ridiculously brilliant that's going to break the case in going over more of that evidence?" Katie inquires when she enters the lab. Effy and Emily are each bent over their own bits of evidence that they're analysing.

"Keep hoping, babe," Effy replies, looking up with a grin.

"Damn," Katie responds, though she's not overly surprised. She hops up on a table and watches Effy work for a few minutes, appreciating the view. "Guess who we're bringing in for questioning?"

"We?" Emily interjects. "Doesn't look like you're bringing in anybody."

Katie shoots her sister a glare and looks back at Effy who's got a curious eyebrow raised.

"Kieran," Katie informs them.

"Now him I could see killing someone," Emily comments, still bent over the microscope she's looking into for the past several minutes, switching out slides when necessary.

Effy looks thoughtful though. "I'm not so sure," she counters. "He vents rather a lot. Where's the pent up rage?"

Katie shrugs. She's trying to keep an open mind. She wants to be able to absorb any hints that the interview gives her with an unbiased mind. "Oh and get this. Apparently Doug was dating Harriet."

Emily finally looks up and turns around to face her sister. Katie smirks at the startled look on her face.

The corners of Effy's lips quirk up into a smirk. "Good for Doug," she murmurs.

"You're kidding!" Emily replies.

"Nope!" Katie grins, pleased to have surprised her twin with some of her information.

"Harriet?" Emily repeats, just to be sure. She knows it's mean to be this stunned, but really she just couldn't imagine Doug having a love life. She cringes as a mental image comes to mind and instantly wishes that she never tried imagining Doug with a love life.

"Yep!" Katie replies, exchanging an amused glance with Effy who's rather enjoying Emily's shock as well. Emily has a tendency to be the level-headed one. The one that nobody can shake. She keeps her head down and does her job thoroughly. She shows the utmost respect for the victims. Well, most of the time.

Emily turns back around to return to her evidence as she continues to process the new information. She can't help thinking that at least Doug hopefully got to experience love before he died. _Everyone__should__at__least__once,_ she thinks only a little wistfully. It's just been too long since she's had a date, she realises. She broke up with Charlotte four months ago. That's the only reason she's being at all wistful.

"So, any chance you can spare a few minutes?" Katie murmurs under her breath. "I've got a little time to kill until James and Cook bring Kieran back."

"Oh yeah?" Effy's eyes sparkle. "I could probably spare a _few_ minutes," she teases.

"Just a few?" Katie pouts playfully, sticking out her lower lip and Effy kisses it softly.

"Ugh, if you both get out of here before I vomit, you can have half an hour and I won't tell anyone!" Emily counters from across the room without looking up.

Katie laughs and Effy giggles slightly as Katie leads her out of the lab.


	4. The Usual Suspects part 1

It kept getting easier. He'd been such an easy target too, all alone in the pub, drinking at the end of the bar, isolated. Easy to lead astray. If he'd watched his mouth, maybe he'd have gotten to live even. But he hadn't.

He'd been a small man too. It had hardly taken any effort at all before his eyes were rolling back in his head and consciousness escaped him completely.

A bit more flare had been added. It had been more time consuming, but worth it. Besides, anyone who might've stumbled upon them would probably have been too drunk to make heads or tails of what was going on.

Taking in the whole image, it had been a bit more satisfying. Still something had been missing though. Maybe next time it'd be just right.

.

.

Kieran grumbles all the way in to the station. They wouldn't even properly tell him what it was fucking about for Christ's sake! Now what kind of respect was that to show to someone who'd once been their teacher? The little fuckers! "James Cook, I demand that you tell me what is going on!"

"That's DS Cook, now, thank you very much!" Cook replies with an amused grin. He remembers now why he'd liked Kieran, even if he'd confiscated quite a few magazines from him in the day, not to mention the time he'd swiped his flask of whiskey. Kieran was always entertaining. He wasn't stuffy like a lot of the other teachers he'd had over the years. He also had never expected too much out of his students, which Cook, especially at the time, had appreciated.

"DS, does that stand for Dumb and Stubborn?" Kieran growls irritably.

Cook howls out a laugh before turning seriously to Kieran. "Try Detective Sergeant!" Cook informs him.

"Hmm...I think they got the initials wrong," Kieran mutters under his breath. "Now are you going to tell me why I'm here?"

"Yep! In a few! Just waiting on my partner to arrive!" Cook lets him know.

"Wasn't it the little blonde boy who shadowed you at my house? Where's he gone off to then? Little Fitch, wasn't it?" Kieran inquires.

"T/DC Fitch!" Cook corrects.

"What the hell does that stand for then?"

"Trainee Detective Constable. And no, he's not my partner, though you'll recognise who is," Cook replies. He can't help that he's rather enjoying himself. He knows that a man is dead and he should be focused on solving his murder, but he just can't bring himself to truly believe that Kieran might have done it. He did have the rage thing going for him though, so maybe.

Cook sits up a little straighter, trying to appear more dignified. He knows that Katie will glare if she walks in and he's all slouched and laid back. She thinks it's unprofessional. She's probably right, he knows.

"Kieran. Cook," Katie nods at them both as she enters the room, two small plastic cups of water in hand and a file tucked under her arm. She hands one cup of water to Cook and sits down and takes a sip of the other.

Kieran eyes it thirstily. "Katie Fitch? Never thought it'd be you interrogating me."

Katie doesn't reply, simply sets down the file authoritatively on the table between them.

"That's DS Fitch to you," Cook corrects again, and Katie represses an eye roll. She's not as in to titles as Cook is. She's more about catching the killer. Not that Cook's not, but sometimes he gets...sidetracked.

"Right, well DS Cook and DS Fitch, why the bloody hell am I here?" Kieran demands with false respect.

"I believe you know Douglas Sparrow?" Katie inquires.

"Of course I fucking know Doug! You know I bloody well know him!" Kieran scoffs at them.

"We've heard that you might have had issues with him," Katie says calmly. She's learned to control her temper over the years and it's served her well in the interrogation room. She's used to suspects treating her with little or no respect. Until she'd gotten partnered with Cook and placed in this unit with Thomas as their boss, she was used to many of her colleagues treating her with little or no respect simply because she was female. They didn't think that she could be as tough. They didn't think that she could stomach some of the things you had to being a police officer. They were wrong. Cook always made sure they knew they were wrong, too. He doesn't tolerate any badmouthing of his partner.

"Who doesn't? The man's too bloody cheerful for his own good! I mean he actually thinks that he can take young minds and shape them into something wonderful despite years of evidence to the contrary!" Kieran replies.

Katie and Cook exchange a small glance. They've both noticed how Kieran just referred to Doug in the present tense. It's a good indicator that he doesn't know that the man's dead, which means he probably isn't the murderer.

_Plus,_ Cook thinks, _I__can__'__t__really__see__him__strangling__someone.__He__'__d__be__more__the__type__stab__you__viciously__in__a__rage.__The__murder__seemed__more__calculated__than__that._

"Did the two of you have any fallings out recently that particularly stand out in your mind?" Katie asks.

Kieran frowns. "Is he saying I assaulted him or something? Verbal assaults don't count! Doesn't he know that?"

"Why don't you tell us what happened?" Cook suggests.

Kieran sighs. "I was talking to this one right fucker...Reminds me a lot of you back in the day, Cook. Always causing trouble. And he was arguing with me over the spliff I confiscated and I was cursing at him..."

Cook grins.

_Naturally,_Katie thinks to herself.

"Anyway, Doug comes along and actually scolds me! Me, for fuck's sake! For doing my bloody job! Says I can't be so harsh with the students and I have to nurture them and bullshit like that! So I bloody well told him where he could stick that load of crap!" Kieran finishes his story.

Katie and Cook exchange another look. That hardly sounds like motive for murder. "That was the extent of the altercation?" Katie probes, just in case.

"Yes! Now what is this about?" Kieran demands.

"Doug's dead," Katie informs him flatly.

"Murdered," Cook adds.

Kieran's jaw falls open. "You're having me on, right?"

Katie opens the file and slides the autopsy headshot across the table to Kieran. "It's no joke, Kieran."

Kieran's jaw dropped as he looked at the picture and his face paled slightly. "He's really dead?"

"Yes," Katie says curtly.

"And you think I did it?" Kieran catches on and scowls at them.

Katie and Cook glance at each other and both shake their heads. "Not so much for the time being," Katie admits, "but I would advise that you don't leave town anytime soon."

"So am I free to leave then?" Kieran asks.

"If you wouldn't mind, we do have a few more questions," Katie requests in a way that makes it clear that he doesn't really have a choice about it if he wants to continue to not be a suspect.

Kieran grumbles under his breath but nods his consent and doesn't make any move to leave.

"Can you think of anyone else who might've had a grudge against Doug? One of the other teachers perhaps?" Katie inquires.

Kieran shakes his head. "I mean we all thought he was a bit nutty, but nobody who'd want to kill him, you understand."

Katie and Cook nod.

"Is there any chance I could get one of those glasses of water?" Kieran inquires, eyeing Katie's thirstily again as she takes another sip. Katie turns in her seat to where she knows James is watching behind the one-way mirrored glass and nods. A minute later he appears with plastic cup full of water in hand.

"I can see who wears the pants in this little trio!" Kieran chuckles to himself as he takes a sip of water.

Cook is both mildly offended and amused by the assumption. Katie is his equal, but doesn't boss him around. Well, maybe sometimes, but he holds his own. This time, Katie took the lead in interrogating, next time it might be him. Cook simply smiles in response.

James isn't nearly as entertained. "Hey! Just because I follow an order of my superior officer doesn't mean that I'm not just as important in this team!"

Cook and Kieran simultaneously raise their eyebrows.

"James, shut up!"Katie instructs.

"But he thinks-"

"James, mate!" Cook warns.

James frowns, obviously sulking, but he heeds the warning. He turns and storms out of the interrogation room.

"Might wanna keep a leash on that one," Kieran kids.

Katie represses a grin. Cook doesn't bother. Katie knows that James will be mad at both of them later.

"Any students might have an issue with Doug?" Katie inquires, getting back to business.

Kieran shook his head. "He's too soft on them for them to have an issue. They just walk all over him."

Katie can't help feeling a little discouraged that everyone they talk to is equally as unhelpful. If Doug didn't have any enemies, then who killed him? Maybe Harriet will be able to provide them with more information.

"What about in his personal life?" Cook interjects. "Did he ever mention anybody?"

"If he had a personal life, he sure as hell never mentioned it to me!" Kieran assures them.

Katie gives Cook a quick nod. They've both asked everything that's relevant. "You are free to go, Kieran. I wouldn't go on any holidays anytime soon, mind. We'll be in touch if we have any more questions," Katie dismisses him. It feels a bit weird doing so to someone who used to be her professor.

"Right, right. I'm not a suspect but I could still be a suspect. I've got it," Kieran grumbles as he stands.

"Thanks for your help," Cook says.

"Like I had a choice," Kieran mutters. "I imagine I'll see you both soon enough."

Katie stands and lets him out of the room. James is lingering nearby and she shoots him a pointed look.

"I'll escort you out," James informs Kieran curtly, knowing what his sister is implying. He knows he has to hold his tongue too, or else Katie will let him have it. He's not sure that that's a part of policing he'll ever be good at.

"Nice to see you on this side of the law, James. You and Cook," Kieran comments as James leads him out.

Katie allows herself a smirk then and glances at Cook who's clearly overheard the comment as well. "I know exactly what he means," she teases.

"Oh, shut up!" Cook responds playfully with an affectionate smile at her. "How's your girlfriend, then? Is she why you were late?"

Katie shakes her head and chuckles. "Wouldn't you like to know," she says, before walking away.


	5. The Usual Suspects part 2

**A/N:****I've****decided****that****hitting****people****over****the****head****with****rocks****doesn't****really****lead****to****you****being****accepted****into****the****law****enforcement****and****criminal****justice****fields,****so****Effy****never****hit****Katie****over****the****head****with****a****rock.****Instead****they****became****less****shallow****friends****some****other****way.**

**.**

**.**

"Katie, you're late!" her mother's voice rings out disapprovingly. Katie sighs and rolls her eyes as she shrugs quickly out of her jacket and takes her seat at the family table.

"That's because I was doing an interrogation and then I had to write up some paperwork," Katie replies, glaring pointedly at James who had conveniently slipped out before the paperwork had started and had apparently made it to their weekly family dinner on time.

"Yes, well, I know how you like this policing work, but couldn't you explain to them that –" Jenna begins, but Katie cuts her off. She's hear her mother's arguments against her being a police woman before.

"No, Mum! I'm a detective! I can't just shrug off my work because my shifts supposed to be over! Not when there's a bloody murderer running around Bristol!" Katie practically yells at her mother in frustration.

Emily shoots her a warning look and she sighs. They're not supposed to talk about ongoing investigations. More than it being police policy, it was a vow that she, Emily, and James had. They didn't want to worry their parents, especially their overly protective mother. They tried to shield her from the cases they worked.

"A murderer? Here?" Jenna's shock is evident.

"Mum, it's Bristol. It's not like we live in some small quaint town where everybody knows each other and nothing bad ever happens," Katie sighs in exasperation.

"Well I _do_ know all our neighbours and I can tell you that none of them did it," Jenna replies huffily.

Emily smirks, Katie isn't sure whether to laugh or be outrage at their mother still, and James does laugh out loud. Even Rob grins, clearly slightly amused.

"Mum, it's not even like any of them are suspects!" James explains once he's gotten partial control of his laughter.

"Well I was just checking," Jenna says defensively.

Katie and Emily exchange a look. Sometimes, their mother is just really ridiculous.

"So is work still keeping you fit Katie? You know you and James can always come and use my gym if that one they have you going to isn't good enough. We just got in a brand new, state of the art, rowing machine. That's good full body cardio that is," Rob changes the subject. "And Emily you can come in, too. Leaning over a microscope all day can't be good for your posture. What you need is to build up your muscles in your back so that you don't lose that good posture we raised you with."

"Thanks, Dad," Emily and Katie chorus. They know his heart's in the right place even if they'll never take him up on his offer.

"Maybe if it stopped being such a fucking sausage fest all the time at your gym, I would go there," James mutters under his breath, but not quietly enough.

"Rob, he's swearing at the dinner table!" Jenna interjects, clearly disapproving.

"Ten reps on the naughty bar. Go on!" Rob instructs James.

"What? No! You can't keep sending me to the naughty bar! I'm an adult! I'm an officer of the law for fuck's sake!" James replies, astonished expression plastered on his face.

"That's another five! And you are still my son, and when you're at my house, you'll obey your mother's rules!" Rob shot back. "Now get started! Full extension!"

James rolls his eyes and stomps over to the naughty bar. At least his training for the department has him in good shape these days. He pops out the fifteen relatively quickly.

"Emily, are you seeing anyone, dear? Met any nice young men, recently?" Jenna inquires not at all subtly.

"Or women?" Rob adds with a tired expression on his face. This isn't the first time this conversation topic had come up at a weekly dinner. In fact, if it didn't come up in a week, then that was a very good week.

"No, Mum. For the millionth time, I'm gay. There will never be any nice young men that pique my interest!" Emily assures her pointedly.

"Well, I just don't think that it would hurt you to keep your eyes and your mind open," Jenna replies.

"Except that I know that I'm gay, mum! I know that I don't want to sleep with boys the same way that you know you don't want to sleep with girls and the same way that Katie knows –"

Katie kicks her twin under the table, effectively shutting her up. Emily looks down at her food. She hadn't meant to almost out her sister, but she's just so fucking sick of having this argument with her mum, having her not accept who she is.

"I just thought that once that Naomi girl was out of your life after college –" Jenna begins.

"Shut up, Mum!" Katie cuts her off. Naomi Campbell, one time love of her sister's life, has basically been an off-limits subject since the pair had broken up. It had been a heartbreaking split (for both, Katie reckons), that had left her sister's love life in ruins for almost a year afterwards. She'd finally gotten back out on the dating scene, but Katie knows that even the mention of the blonde's name still affects her sister. It didn't help that Naomi had literally apparently dropped off the face of the planet after she'd left Bristol.

"Nobody turned me gay, Mum! For fuck's sake, it's been years! I wish you'd just accept it already! At least Dad has!" Emily shoots back, raising her voice. How can her mother have really just said that? After all this fucking time! _She__still__doesn__'__t__fucking__get__me,_ Emily sighs. She hates that even though she's an adult now, she can't help reacting like she's a teenager again when she's around her mother.

"Alright, I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to maybe keep your eyes out for attractive young men. And Katie, why aren't you dating anyone? It's been ages since you brought any young lads round to meet us," Jenna turns on her other daughter.

Katie closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She knows really she should have told them sooner. Maybe it would've helped Emily. She's as sick of her mother's attitude towards Emily's sexuality as Emily is. "I am dating someone," she announces.

Emily's jaw drops. Her sister must be insane if she's really going to admit this now.

James smirks, although he doesn't understand why his sisters don't get sent to the naughty bar when they're completely being more disrespectful than he is. They've always been his parents' favourites.

"Oh?" Jenna inquires with interest and shoots Emily a look that says, "Why can't you be more like your sister?" It only strengthens Katie's resolve to be honest. "Who is it? When do we get to meet him?" Jenna pries.

"It's not a him. It's a girl. Effy Stonem," Katie announces.

Rob splutters, choking on his spoonful of soup. Once he's stopped coughing though, he takes in his daughter's fierce look. She's not joking. He's learned better than that these days. He certainly wasn't expecting this, but he was not about to make the same mistake twice. "That's lovely, dear. You should bring her around to dinner one of these weeks," Rob recovers.

Katie shoots her dad a genuine smile. "Thanks."

Jenna, however is still processing, and the scowl on her face makes it evident that she doesn't like what she hears. "Excuse me? Effy Stonem. Like your friend from college?"

"She works in the crime lab with us now. You know that, Mum," Emily interjects in a tired voice.

"So what, now you think you're gay, too?" Jenna demands, ignoring Emily's comment.

"No, Mum! I don't _think_ anything, but I _know_ that I'm not straight! Not completely at least," Katie explains irritably.

"Yes, and that's fine, love," Rob assures her. Two years of a strained relationship with Emily, her barely talking to them, was enough to teach him to be accepting of his children for who they are. He doesn't want a repeat. "That's just fine."

"Rob!" Jenna turns her scowl on her husband, who glares back and stands his ground.

Emily shoots her sister a sympathetic look. She's incredibly thankful to Katie for turning the attention off of her and her love life (or lack thereof as the case is at the moment).

Katie gestures towards the door with her eyes and Emily nods.

"Right, well as lovely as this dinner is, Katie and I need to go," Emily announces.

"What? Where?" Jenna splutters in protest.

"Somewhere with decent food! Policing is hard work. I need more than gross vegetable soup, Mum," Katie retorts, not caring for the moment that she's hurting her mother's feelings, though she's fully aware that she'll probably ring round tomorrow and apologise.

"Katie," Rob warns his daughter softly, but she knows that he's not going to stop them from leaving.

"There's no reason to take that tone with me, young lady," Jenna scolds.

Emily's the first to her feet, but Katie's close on her heels, ignoring her mother. "See you next week," Emily calls over her shoulder as they leave.

James sits frozen in place. He's well aware that unless he also makes a hasty retreat that his mother's temper is about to be turned on him. He glances from his mum's face, frozen in rage, to his dad, who nods discreetly. He scrambles to his feet and chases after his sisters. "Hey! Wait up! Don't leave me alone with them!"

.

.

Cook rubs blearily at his eyes. He's glad that Katie drove. He did not get anywhere near enough sleep. Then again, it's hard to when you get called to a crime scene at three in the morning.

"This is bollocky wank shite!" James groans with a yawn. "It's too fucking early!"

"Shut up, James," Katie murmurs. "Start collecting evidence. And for fuck's sake try not to step in anything this time!"

James shoots her a glare, but gets to work.

Cook yawns and takes note of a handful of people standing around interestedly just outside of the crime scene tape. "Want me to handle the potential witnesses?"

"Not like they'll be any good. Look at them. Some of them are so pissed they can barely stand," Katie rolls her eyes. "Yeah, go ahead."

Katie picks her way towards the body, keeping her eyes peeled, fighting her fatigue so that she can stay alert and take in the whole crime scene. This is her second body in a week and as she approaches, she gets a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She thinks she recognises the face. It's older, definitely, and his skin seems to have cleared up, but she's almost positive it's him. "Cook!" she bellows.

Cook appears beside her. "What's up, Katiekins?"

"Look at his face. We know him," Katie instructs him.

"What?" Cook asks, shocked. The likelihood of them knowing two murder victims in a row, especially so close together, is just ridiculously unlikely. He stares down at the young man and recollection hits. He's still scrawny and the expression of slight disgust with the world is plastered on his face, even in death.

"It's that boy who ran against you and...Who ran against you in those elections back in college, right? What's his name?" Katie asks, not taking her eyes off the corpse.

"Crispin. Yeah. It's him," Cook confirms. "I'd bet money on it."

Katie shakes her head. "Get any useful information yet?" she inquires, nodding back towards the curious onlookers.

"Nah! First bloke I talked to almost puked on my shoes and the second literally just got out of the pub. The smell of whiskey on his breath almost knocked me over for fuck's sake!" Cook replies. He turns back to the body and sighs. "Bet he had loads of bloody enemies. Solving this one's going to be a bitch!"

"Did he have any enemies in common with Doug, though?" Katie inquires, kneeling beside the small pool of blood by the body.

"Dunno. You think it's the same killer?" Cook asks.

Katie pulls out her flashlight and shines it at the blood. Glitter shimmers back at her. "Yeah. I do."

Out of the corner of her eye she catches another small patch of blood. It's a little further away from the rest of it, so maybe it's the killers, she thinks hopefully. She scoots over and examines it. She frowns. Maybe she's wrong or maybe it's just coincidence, but it almost looks like it's in the shape of a music note. "Strange," she murmurs aloud to herself before putting an evidence marker and a ruler down and photographing it before taking a sample of the blood. It could still be the killers after all.

Katie frowns as she continues working. She's got a bad feeling about these murders and she doesn't like it. She doesn't like it at all.


	6. The Usual Suspects part 3

"Talk to me Jay-man!" Cook says entering the morgue, yawning slightly. He and Katie had both managed to catch a quick nap in the break room, but it didn't nearly make up for their lack of sleep from the night before.

JJ glances up quickly and nods to Katie and Cook before returning his attention to the body. "Katie was right. It's definitely the same manner of death. Strangulation, but bleeding out a little first."

"So we might have a serial killer on our hands," Katie concludes.

"Most experts believe that to qualify as a serial killer there have to be a minimum of three victims found in three locations," JJ corrects, "however I will agree that it does seem like we're leading that way. Glitter in the blood is not something that I've ever heard of being used in any hits for the Whites, the Hestons, or anyone else for that matter."

"I told Thomas we're going to need a psychologist on this one," Katie grumbled. "Especially with such crap evidence. What did we get from this crime scene? Another three dozen cigarette butts? Some drunken eye witness statements that basically consisted of them saying the saw Crispin and he sure looked dead to them? That's really useful. So far no fingerprints, no fibres...We don't even know what they're being strangled with!"

"We can assume that it's not hands or rope thanks to the bruising patterns, but yes, true," JJ concedes unhappily. He's good at his job, and he doesn't like it when he can only provide half answers to the investigators.

"Look, why don't you and me go have a chat with Harriet, yeah? Then we'll go talk to Thommo together, and I'll back you on that psychologist thing. Alright?" Cook offers.

"Yeah, alright. Thanks," Katie replies. If it's coming from both of them, Thomas will definitely be more inclined to put in the request to the Metropolitan police. She hopes at least. "See you JJ! Let us know if you find anything else!"

"Will do! See you later," JJ calls after them without looking up from his work.

.

.

"Harriet Lawes?" Katie inquires, though of course she recognises the woman. She certainly hasn't changed that much. There're a few more streaks of white in her hair, and the wrinkles around her scowl seem a bit more fixed in place, but apart from that she looks the same. "Could we come in? We have a few questions to ask you," Katie requests as she and Cook flash their badges.

Harriet opens the door to let them in, but then freezes. "You're James Cook! Fucking little sod! No way are you coming in my house! Who did you bribe to get that badge?"

Cook laughs, but Katie rolls her eyes. Sometimes it just doesn't feel worth it to be Cook's partner. "I assure you, Miss Lawes, that James Cook is now an officer of the law."

"Detective Sergeant Cook at your service," Cook grins and bows gracefully.

"No. I refuse to believe it," Harriet counters.

"He really is an officer of the law and we really do have some questions we need to ask you," Katie reiterates. "It's concerning Douglas Sparrow."

Harriet seems to deflate as she leans back against the wall. "What's happened? I knew something was up when I hadn't heard from him! He's never stayed gone when I've kicked him out before!"

"You kicked him out?" Cook interjects, suddenly a bit keener on this interview.

"Well, yes. You try dealing with his insufferable optimism all the time and see if you don't kick him out a few times!" Harriet replies defensively.

"So you two argue frequently?" Katie probes.

"All right, that's enough! What's happened?" Harriet demands.

"You may want to have a seat Miss Lawes," Cook suggests.

"I'm fine standing, thank you very much!" Harriet replies stubbornly.

"Miss Lawes, I'm sorry to inform you, that Douglas Sparrow is dead," Katie says softly.

Harriet reels backwards and collapses to the floor. "Dead?" she echoes in a stunned voice.

"I'm afraid so," Katie soothes.

"How?" Harriet inquires.

"He was murdered," Cook replies pointedly. Her reaction to the news seemed genuine enough, but you can never be too sure.

"Murdered?" Harriet echoes again.

"Why don't we go into the living room and have a seat," Katie suggests.

"Yes. Yes, I think that might be a good idea," Harriet nods vaguely and manages to pull herself to her feet and walk into the living room, any issues she may've had with Cook long forgotten.

"So why don't you tell us about the nature of your relationship with Doug," Cook suggests once they're seated.

"Well, we were...friends, I suppose," Harriet ventures.

"We heard that you were a bit more than that," Katie informs her. She doesn't know why, but people will lie to the police when they're embarrassed even though all it does is make them look guilty. She can't tell if it's guilt or embarrassment holding Harriet back here.

"Yes, alright," Harriet sighs. "We've been dating on and off."

"And most recently it was off?" Katie suggests.

Harriet nods. "Since a few days ago. I stopped by his office after school one day to find him alone with a young female student and she was blatantly flirting with him! Though God knows why! And he had the gall to deny it!"

"Isn't it possible that he just didn't notice the flirting?" Katie suggests.

"Or that you imagined it?" Cook adds.

"I have been in education long enough, young man, that I can recognise when one of the young tarts that seem to have taken over our schools is flirting with a professor," Harriet replies defensively. "But it is possible that Doug missed it," Harriet concedes to Katie. "I just needed time to cool off and he usually knows that, and comes back after a day or so. It's why he still keeps his flat."

"And it also explains why the crime scene techs thought that his flat didn't appear very lived in. We just put it down to him being tidy," Katie adds to Cook under her breath and he nods.

"Did you happen to catch the name of this student?" Katie inquires.

"No. Just some young music student I believe. She was carrying a violin case at least," Harriet replies.

Katie's mind flashes back to the smaller patch of blood that she'd thought resembled a musical note near Crispin's body. She made a note to try to find out who the student had been. Still, Harriet would be the more likely candidate. How would this student have even known Crispin for starters. "Do you remember a student named Crispin?"

Harriet rolls her eyes. "How could I forget? Ran for student body president against this little tosser," Harriet gestures at Cook who cracks a grin at his old reputation. "Thought that women were inferior and shouldn't be let in schools with men? I remember him alright. I remember being amazed that he got any votes in that stupid bloody election too! Why? What about him?"

"He's dead as well," Katie informs her.

"Right, well I can't say that I'll shed any tears over him," Harriet replies.

"He was murdered too. Potentially by the same person who killed Doug," Katie adds.

Harriet clams up then. She is by no means an idiot and she's more or less just been informed that she's a potential suspect.

"You wouldn't happen to have seen Crispin since you left Roundview, would you?" Cook inquires, picking up where his partner left off.

"No, as a matter of fact, I haven't. He was one student I was more than happy to see the back of. Actually, that describes most of the students I've known," Harriet explains, shooting another pointed look at Cook.

Katie can sense Harriet becoming defensive which means that she won't be providing information very willingly. She sighs internally and changes her line of questioning. She knows better than to get too focused on one suspect. "Do you have any idea who might've wanted to hurt Doug?"

Harriet pauses for a second then shakes her head. "No. Not really."

"Not really? Or no?" Cook inquires. He's learned to pick up on small details like that over the years.

"No. His problem is making too many friends, not enemies," Harriet replies.

"So he hasn't been having any problems with people at work?" Katie pries.

"Not that I know of," Harriet shakes her head again.

"Not even Kieran, perhaps?" Cook suggests.

"Oh, no! Doug quite liked Kieran. Thought he had a wonderful sense of humour. He never did quite understand that Kieran was always being honest when he said things like the students were a right pack of fuckers," Harriet explains. "Doug saw their minor disagreements as intellectual debating or friendly spats. Besides, Kieran's more apt to kill a student than a fellow teacher," she adds.

Katie and Cook exchange a glance. Crispin had been a student. Still, neither of them quite feel that the murders had Kieran's personality in them. It's worth questioning him again, though.

They continue to ask Harriet some routine questions and ask if they can take a look around. She allows it after a moment's hesitation, but after a quick inspection, it's obvious that the house is Harriet's. There are very few traces that this is where Doug stayed most nights: only a few outfits in the closet, a tie strewn over the back of a chair, an extra toothbrush in the bathroom, and one picture of Harriet and Doug together. There was no question of who wore the pants in their relationship. Harriet was in charge, she was dominant, and he had merely existed in her zone, being as unobtrusive as possible by the looks of things.

"Thank you for your time," Katie says as she and Cook duck back out of Harriet's house.

Cook lights up a fag, and turns to face Katie before they start to walk away. "Well, what do you think?"

Katie shakes her head thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. It could go either way."

"That's what I think," Cook agrees. "We should keep an eye on her."

"Yeah," Katie nods.

"Ready to talk to Thomas?" Cook asks.

"Yes. We need help. There's just not enough physical evidence for us to solve this alone," Katie replies adamantly.

"I'm with you on that," Cook sighs. He inhales one last drag and flicks his cigarette away. "Let's go then."

.

.

"I've already put in the call," Thomas informs Katie and Cook who look at each other and sigh in relief.

"Are they going to send someone?" Katie inquires.

"They said that there was a forensic psychologist who was familiar with this area that they could spare at the moment. I persuaded them that we were most likely dealing with a serial murderer," Thomas replies.

"When will he be here?" Cook asks.

Thomas shrugs. "Not sure. They said as soon as possible."

"Good," Katie relaxes a little.

"So nothing new for me then?" Thomas demands.

"Sorry, Thommo. Harriet might have done it, but we really can't be sure and we have less than no proof," Cook sighs.

"Keep looking. I'll let you know when I hear more on the psychologist," Thomas dismisses them.

Cook turns to Katie as they leave the office. "Don't you have some hot date tonight?"

"Fuck off, Cook. You cannot tag along," Katie cuts his train of thought short.

"Damn," he replies, pretending to act hurt. "Don't suppose your sister would like some company tonight?"

"Not company of your gender," Katie scoffs. She thinks about it for a second. "You could see if she wants to grab a drink though. It'd do her good to get out, even if it's with you."

Cook laughs. "You know, I can just feel the love Katiekins!" He starts to head off to find Emily.

Katie rolls her eyes. "Just be nice to her!" Katie warns.

.

.

"What's on your mind?" Effy asks as she sucks the olive from her martini off the stick. She knows better than to suggest that it might be work. When they're together, when they're away from work and on a date, they don't talk about it. It's there time to get away from everything they deal with on a daily basis.

Katie lets her eyes dwell on Effy's tongue and lips for a second then shakes her head and considers the question. She shrugs. "Just thinking about Emily. It's been a while since she's had a date. I even suggested that Cook ask her out tonight."

Effy laughs lightly. "I don't think he's her type."

"No, I know. Not like that. Just...She needs to be more social, you know? Meet someone new."

Effy shrugs. "She's doing alright. We can invite us out with her next time if you want, though," she offers.

Katie smiles at her girlfriend. "You're the best, Eff."

"Now could you possibly stop thinking about your sister on our date?" Effy asks seductively, hopping off of her bar stool and scooting in close to Katie.

Katie can feel herself getting hot already, then she remembers that she's got something to tell Effy about. "Sure. One quick thing first?"

"What?" Effy inquires, raising a curious eyebrow. She's not used to people being able to resist her advances.

"I kind of told my parents about us at dinner last night," Katie blurts out, unsure of exactly how Effy's going to take it. They hadn't talked about telling other people, besides the few people who already knew who they worked with.

Effy doesn't react for a second, then smiles. "Guess I'll be coming to family dinner sooner rather than later then."

"My mum's really not happy about it," Katie warns.

Effy shrugs. "I think I can handle Jenna Fitch."

Katie's mind flashes to a potential fight between her mother and her girlfriend. She had to admit, Effy could probably take her. "My dad did say that I should bring you to dinner sometime."

"See? Perfect," Effy grins. "Now can we please drop the subject of your family?" She grabs Katie's hand and pulls her off of the bar stool and into a kiss.

"Who?" Katie asks with a grin before kissing Effy again.

"Better. Come dance with me," Effy whispers seductively in Katie's ear.

Katie willingly follows Effy onto the dance floor and feels heat rush through her body as their bodies begin to sway together. Judging by the gleam in Effy's eyes, this may not be the only form of dancing they do tonight. Katie swallows hard as she lets her eyes graze down Effy's torso. She can't deny the want she feels, but that doesn't calm her nerves. She and Effy haven't been dating that long and Katie's still been coming to terms with not being completely straight. She'd only dated one girl before Effy and it hadn't been for very long and they hadn't gotten very far.

As Effy's fingers scrape down Katie's back until they rest comfortably just above her bum, Katie's suddenly extremely aware of the fact that she's never had sex with a girl. There's no denying that she wants to though.

When Katie's eyes go back up to meet Effy's, she finds the girl studying her with an amused smirk on her face. "What?" Katie asks, feeling her face blush.

"You want me, Katie Fitch," Effy says calmly and self-assuredly in a husky voice that sends a chill down Katie's spine.

Katie doesn't reply, just dances a little closer, relishing the feeling of their body's brushing against one another and wondering exactly what it would feel like without clothes in the way.

"Come out with me for a smoke?" Effy requests in the same voice and Katie's helpless to deny her.

She follows Effy to the exit and they step outside and around the corner. Instead of pulling out a cigarette, Effy pins Katie to the wall in a passionate kiss. Katie moans into Effy's mouth as the girl's tongue swipes across her lips and her leg slips in between Katie's two.

"You want me, too," Katie murmurs when they break apart a few minutes later as that realisation really sinks in.

Effy kisses her again. "Took you long enough to figure that out."

Katie shivers at the words and kisses back harder.

"Let's get out of here," Effy suggests a few minutes later, cigarette long forgotten.

Katie nods, excitement and nerves overpowering her vocal chords, making her unable to speak. Effy smiles coyly at her and links her arm. Katie has to remind herself to try to breathe normally on the short walk back to Effy's house.

Just inside the door, Effy pauses. "Just wait until you find out exactly what you've been missing out on in only dating men until now," Effy murmurs into her ear before sucking her earlobe into her mouth.

Katie can't stop the low, guttural moan that escapes her mouth any more than she can help the way her body reacts. As Effy's lips fiercely meet hers, Katie can't help thinking that she can't wait to find out what she's been missing out on.

Apparently she doesn't have to.


	7. Outside Help part 1

"Emsy, I'm sorry I was such a bitch when you first came out!" Katie announces, wrapping her sister in a tight hug. She kisses her on the cheek. "If I'd known how amazing it could be, I would never have been so cruel!" Katie shoots a glance at Effy who's smirking smugly.

"Ugh! Ew! I really do not need to know when my sister and my best friend get laid," Emily complains, shrugging out of her sister's embrace.

"I know, I know, but why didn't you tell me how incredible it can be with a girl?" Katie gushes.

Emily, however, cringes. "Because you would've complained!"

"Probably," Effy agrees with a chuckle.

Katie sticks out her lower lip in a pout, which only makes Effy chuckle harder.

"Sorry, babe, but it's true," Effy backs Emily up.

"Hmph, well, whatever. All I know is that now, I know it's fucking amazing, ok? All weekend it was just tongues and fingers...I mean just –"

"I repeat: ew!" Emily sighs, fervently wishing that the evidence splayed around her was more distracting.

"It's not ew! You do it!" Katie points out.

"Yes, but doing it yourself is much more enjoyable than hearing about your sister doing it," Emily counters.

Katie considers that for a second. "Yeah, ok," she relents. "Still, sorry I was such a bitch back in college." She's in too a good a mood to let her sister's reaction spoil it.

"Apology accepted," Emily assures her, hoping that they'll get to move on to a different subject now.

Effy grins at Katie who can't help herself and crosses the room to kiss her.

"So glad you enjoyed it," Effy muses.

"Shut up! You did too," Katie shoots back.

Effy simply nods in agreement. There was certainly no denying that.

"Don't we have a murder to solve or something?" Emily mutters and Effy chuckles again.

"Sorry, Ems. Not my fault your sister's irresistible," Effy teases, though there's definite truth to her words.

Emily sighs dramatically and shoots Effy a glare.

"By the way, how were drinks with Cook?" Effy inqures.

Emily shrugs. "Not too bad. He says I make a great wingman."

"You helped him pull?" Katie asks incredulously.

"Not exactly, but I got him a few phone numbers. He was gentlemanly enough not to ditch me at the bar, which I have to say, I was rather impressed with," Emily replies.

"Yeah, seriously!" Katie agrees.

"Did you meet anyone?" Effy interjects.

Emily rolls her eyes. "No, but I was hardly looking either."

Effy and Katie exchange a look.

"Tell you what, Ems. We're heading out tomorrow night to that new club that opened last month. Why don't you come with us?" Katie offers.

"So I can watch you two snog and be subjected to more ridiculous cuteness? No thanks," Emily counters.

"What if we promise to behave?" Effy suggests with a sly grin.

Emily rolls her eyes. "Maybe. I'll get back to you."

"That's settled then. We'll pick you up at nine," Katie says firmly before pecking Effy on the lips and heading out of the lab. "I should get back to work."

Emily turns to Effy who's regarding her sympathetically. "Do you like how she just hears what she wants to hear?"

Effy shrugs. "It'll be fun, I promise."

Emily sighs. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Effy shakes her head with a small grin. "Sorry."

"Yeah, you really look it," Emily rolls her eyes and turns back her evidence. She hears Effy setting to work behind her. "Seriously? Your entire day off?" she asks after a few minutes.

"Oh, yeah," Effy assures her.

Emily takes a deep breath. Maybe going out would be a good thing. It really was about time she met someone new.

.

.

"I need to speak to Chief Superintendent Tomone. I am Dr. Naomi Campbell from the Metropolitan police, and don't bother with the supermodel jokes. I guarantee I've heard them all before," Naomi says wearily without looking up from her phone. This unexpected assignment in Bristol means that she has to rearrange her schedule and her phone is also her appointment book. Just because she happened to have come in to town for the weekend to visit her mum and because she knew the area, they'd decided she'd be perfect for this case. It didn't even sound like a full blown serial killer to her. From what she'd been told, there were only two victims. Not that the murderer shouldn't be found, but her skills were most likely better used elsewhere.

"You've heard rather a lot of them from me, I reckon," Cook grins.

The familiar voice makes Naomi look up, eyes wide. It can't be. Surely he'd been destined for the criminal side of the justice system. Nonetheless, James Cook undeniably stands before her. She has only a split second to brace herself before Cook's arms wrap around her, lifting her off the ground for a second and squeezing tightly before letting go and taking a step back, grin still plastered on his face.

"How've you been, Naomikins?" Cook inquires fondly. He'd quite liked her back in college. She'd been feisty.

"Fine, thank you. And yourself?" Naomi replies diplomatically, a bit overwhelmed by her greeting. Her eyes shift to the short brunette at Cook's side and for a split second she remembers what it felt like to be an insecure sixteen-year-old.

Katie offers Naomi a small smile, though in truth she's a bit in shock. She hasn't seen the blonde since the last day of college, and hasn't actually spoken to her in longer than that.

Naomi nods at Katie.

"I'm doing excellent!" Cook beams. "Me and Katie been partners for years now and we make a bloody brilliant team!"

Naomi raises an eyebrow, and Katie instantly picks up on her unspoken question.

"Strictly professional," Katie assures her.

Naomi nods again. She has the impulse to ask after Emily, but thinks better of it. It's ancient history after all. "So, Chief Superintendent Tomone?"

"It's good old Thommo, innit?" Cook informs her. "Office is down the hall, third door on the right."

"Thanks," she remembers to say before heading off in the direction that Cook's pointing in. She gets stopped not ten feet down the hallway.

"Naomi? Naomi Campbell?"

It takes her a second to place the decently attractive, dirty blonde young man before her. It's the family features that give him away in the end. The button nose especially. "James Fitch?" she asks, just to be sure.

"The one and only!" James beams in a way that makes Naomi think of Cook.

"Wow," Naomi only just has time to remark under her breath before the youngest Fitch wraps her in a warm hug.

"Long time no see!" James announces when he pulls away. "You're looking especially fit these days."

Katie sidles up behind him and slaps him upside the head, giving Naomi an apologetic glance. "You'll have to excuse him. He thinks that passes as charm."

Naomi manages a smile, but really this blast from the past is throwing her. She had considered the possibility that she'd run into people she knew, but she hadn't expected to see so many of them, and apparently be working with them as well.

"James, go bug someone else," Katie instructs.

James scowls, but does as he's instructed.

Katie turns back to Naomi. "I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I never expected to see you again."

Naomi's a bit taken aback by Katie's bluntness, but she decides to reply in kind. "To be honest, I never expected to be back and see everyone again."

Katie nods, then thinks for a second. It's been a long time, after all. "I'm sure we've all grown up a lot since the last time we saw each other," she offers.

It's an obvious olive branch, and Naomi takes it as one. She and Katie had probably ended on the worst terms out of everyone, but the eldest Fitch had clearly matured enough to be able to put the past in the past, at least to do her work. "I'm sure we have," Naomi agrees, letting her features soften just for a moment. She doesn't really do the 'friendly' thing these days, but apparently on this assignment she won't have much of a choice.

Katie hesitates for a minute, then sighs. Naomi should know if they're all going to work together. "You should know, Emily works here too, in the lab analysing evidence."

Naomi tenses at the mention of her ex-girlfriend's name. Out of everyone, Emily is the one person she both longed to see the most and hoped to avoid the most. Apparently the latter was no longer an option. After a few moments, Naomi nods tersely. "Thanks," she manages.

Katie nods in reply then turns on her heels.

Naomi swallows hard and allows herself a small moment. She wishes, just for a second, that she'd had the foresight to have a drink before coming to work today. She shakes her head, though, shaking the thought out, because that is the thought of an alcoholic, which she is not. _Alcoholics__go__to__meetings__after__all_, she thinks wryly to herself. She turns and heads on down the hallway to the office she's been pointed towards and takes a deep breath before knocking. Time to be confronted with yet another blast from the past. At least she feels vaguely m ore prepared for this one. Plus there's much less history with Thomas to weed through.

.

.

"Do you think we should tell her?" Cook inquires as Katie joins him and James hovered around Cook's desk.

Katie hesitates. "I don't know. How much will they really have to interact."

"If Emily finds out that we knew and we didn't tell her she'll kick our arses!" James points out. "Well, she'll kick mine at least," he mutters. It really wasn't fair that his sister's could still beat the crap out of him.

"True," Katie agrees, though she's not entirely sure that James doesn't deserve a good arse kicking, for one thing or another, if not for this.

"I think you should do it, Katiekins," Cook voices his opinion.

Katie sighs. "I really hope this whole situation doesn't blow up in our faces."

"Nah, no worries. We're all professionals right?" Cook says.

Katie eyes him tiredly. Cook is many things, but the most professional of people he is not. Still, maybe he's right. Naomi didn't seem too bad. And what she and Emily had was years ago. They've undoubtedly both moved on. Except that part of Katie knows that deep down, part of Emily still holds on to her first true love. She sighs again. "All right, I'll go."

.

.

"Emsy," Katie voices softly when she enters the lab.

Katie's tone is so different from how it was earlier that morning that Emily has to look up. The use of her childhood nickname sets her on edge.

Effy glances up curiously as well from where she's stabbing a block of imitation human flesh with various sharp objects. Almost instinctively she moves to her girlfriend's side.

Katie takes a deep breath before continuing. "The forensic psychologist just showed up."

"That's great! We can use all of the help we can get! Send them up here to see if they can read anything further into this evidence!" Emily replies enthusiastically.

Effy can tell that Katie's not so thrilled though, and this is something she's aware that Katie had been hoping for. She stays silent, waiting for Katie to continue, but she takes Katie's hand and squeezes it supportively.

Katie glances thankfully at Effy, then turns back to Emily. "Ems, it's Naomi."

"Who's Naomi?" Emily asks, tensing as her face wrinkles in confusion.

"The forensic psychologist. It's Naomi Campbell," Katie repeats, as if there's been any other Naomi significant enough in their lives that she'd bother coming and telling her sister.

Emily feels her stomach drop. "Oh," she squeaks out. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to regain control of her emotions. She's at work. She needs to be professional. Besides, it's been years and she's over Naomi. Completely over her. One hundred percent.

She forces down the nausea that's threatening to rise in her stomach and takes a few more deep, slow breaths, trying to calm her suddenly racing heartbeat.

"I can see that," Effy interjects. It takes a lot for a silence to get to her, but that one was starting to.

"You all right?" Katie asks softly, moving to touch her sister's arm comfortingly.

Emily turns away and shakes her head, running a hand absently through her hair. "Yeah. Sure. Of course. That's still great. I'm sure she'll be a big help on this case."

"Right, yeah," Katie murmurs her agreement, though she sees right through her sister's front. She knows this isn't the time to push her.

"Thank you for letting me know, and please do direct her up here to take a look at this evidence at some point soon," Emily says, vaguely aware that she's being overly formal, especially given that she's talking to her twin sister. She can't help it. She's flipped the little switch in her brain fully to work mode. She can't afford to have it even slightly on personal mode with Naomi around. She may be over her, but some part of her self-preservation has kicked in anyway.

"Will do," Katie agrees, worrying her lip a bit as she lingers and watches her sister for a few minutes as Emily returns to her work.

Effy pulls on her arm eventually and leads her out of the room. "This is a surprise," she murmurs.

"No fucking kidding," Katie agrees, feeling like she can breathe fully again for the first time since she'd laid eyes on Naomi downstairs.

"You ok?" Effy asks, staring her girlfriend in the eyes.

"Yeah. I'm not the one you need to worry about," Katie replies.

"Maybe, but I'll worry anyway," Effy counters, stroking Katie's cheek softly.

"Look out for her, ok?" Katie requests, eyes pleading.

Effy nods (as if she could deny Katie anything when she's looking at her like that). "Of course."

"Thank you," Katie manages a smile.

Effy nods again and presses her lips to Katie's letting her know in more ways than one that she's there for both of them.

Katie surprises herself by almost letting three small words that she wasn't even aware that she was feeling escape her lips, but she bites them back just in time. There's nothing like spoiling a wonderful budding relationship by admitting scary feelings too soon. Instead she kisses the brunette again. "Right, well, see you."

Effy's lips quirk up into a smile and Katie is distracted by her thoughts long enough to take in how sexy her girlfriend is. "See you soon, Katie," Effy replies, voice low and a bit husky.

Katie feels an excited chill run down her spine as she turns and heads back to work. She can't help thinking that moments like that are what are going to get her through the incredibly long days that she feels are coming.


	8. Outside Help part 2

Thomas's eyes widen as he takes in the tall blonde that's in his doorway. It's been years, but she's unmistakeable. He smiles quickly, diplomatically. He's had plenty of training in his rise in the police force. It seems like ninety percent of his job is politics these days, and it's always better done with a smile plastered on your face. "Naomi," he greets her, gesturing for her to take the seat across the desk from him. He's unsure why she's there, but he's hardly about to turn her away without finding out.

"Thomas," Naomi replies, forcing a small smile on her face. She's not there to rekindle friendships, she's there to do a job. Still, it's better to keep a good rapport with the local police. Her mind flashes back briefly to the case in Swaffham where she managed to alienate not only the local constables, but also the Chief Inspector, Chief Superintendent, and the Crown Prosecutor handling the case. That had not gone well, and had led up to a good constable's death (a rather handsome young man, poised for promotion, if Naomi remembers correctly), and a month's suspension for herself. She shudders at the memory. "The Metropolitan police sent me?"

"Ah yes, good. So you are the forensic psychologist. Your input on this case will be most welcome," Thomas smiles at her. He can tell she's uptight, and really it's no wonder. This must be an unexpected blast from the past. He's fully aware that the blonde hasn't kept in touch with anybody, and most notably one person. He can't help but wonder if Naomi's been told about that. He should probably let her know, he figures.

Naomi nods. "Yes. Oh, and I need you to sign these, please?" Naomi pulls out the paperwork she's brought along. Always best to put things in order from the start, she always figures.

"Of course." Thomas takes the papers and signs them where necessary. "Let me bring you up to speed on the case," Thomas leans back in his chair and pulls the folder containing the most current case details towards him. He opens it up and begins to fill Naomi in.

Naomi leans back in her own chair and makes notes in the notebook that she's brought, listening keenly. It's one of the skills that she's developed for her job. She listens to everything, taking in minute details like change in pitch and small trembles. If Thomas were a suspect she'd be making notes about what he was saying when each abnormality or change occurred. She's also developed the ability to not look at what she's writing so that she can flex her observation muscles, taking in small details like pupil dilation, tilting of heads, crossing of arms, nervous twitches. There's no need to do that with Thomas. Even if she hasn't seen him in ten years, there's still no way that he's turned into the type of killer that he's describing to her. Besides, there's no reason to suspect anyone on the force, beyond her normal suspiciousness that tells her to suspect everyone. There was that case in Corby after all. Another shudder runs through Naomi's body.

Realisation dawns slowly on Naomi as to the identity of the victims. What are the odds that she'd have know both of them? She represses a sigh. More blasts from the past. She knows it's a bit heartless of her, but she was almost glad that she wouldn't have to encounter them. Crispin especially, given what a righteous sod he'd been last time she'd seen him, spouting shit about the ignorance of the masses and why girl's shouldn't be allowed to run in school elections especially when they just give them away just before he'd been unceremoniously thrown into a dumpster. Doug though...He'd been harmless enough. Sweet, even, in a dorky kind of way. Sure, he'd always been far too optimistic for Naomi's liking, but she certainly bore him no ill will. She can't imagine anyone having a big enough issue with him that it would warrant killing him.

Thomas finishes summing up the knowledge that they do have, and Naomi has to admit, that from a purely evidential standpoint, it's really not much. It does, however, seem that Bristol has the makings of a serial killer. It's early to call it that, with so few victims, but there are undeniable signs that point to the perpetrator being the same in both crimes. There's a ritualistic aspect to the murders, and the Modus Operandi, while slightly different, is similar enough that assumptions can be made.

"JJ seems to think that the exact combination of strangulation and stabbing indicates the same killer," Thomas adds.

Naomi nods thoughtfully. "I'm inclined to agree with that assessment." She pauses, when she fully takes in what Thomas has just said. "Sorry, wait, JJ? As in Jonah Jeremiah Jones?" Naomi inquires, flashing back to the awkward boy with braces she'd known in college.

"One and the same," Thomas confirms. "He is our medical examiner."

"Is there anybody from Roundview who doesn't bloody work here?" Naomi mutters under her breath. She takes a deep breath to calm herself. It's irrational, she decides, to get so worked up over these unexpected blasts from the past. Nonetheless, she makes a mental note to have a few stiff drinks tonight once she gets back to her mum's house. Upon remembering that that's where she has to stay tonight, she makes another mental note to make other housing arrangements. It's not that she doesn't like her mum, but she values her privacy, especially when working a case.

The case, right. _I__need__to__focus,_ Naomi reminds herself. "Any suspects?" she inquires, getting her thoughts back on track.

"We've questioned two individuals, but I suspect that neither is the perpetrator," Thomas supplies. "Perhaps the one. Harriet Lawes. She certainly had distain for Crispin, and she had apparently kicked Doug out just prior to his death."

Naomi jots those facts in her notebook. Harriet Lawes, now there's a name she hasn't thought in years. She briefly remembers the time when Harriet fixed the student election so that Naomi would win. It hadn't been fair (and, Naomi thinks bitterly, her younger self had still been naive enough to think that the world should have been fair), so Naomi had called Harriet on it, pulling the votes for Cook out of the woman's bra. Naomi can't help but recall the other major event in her life around that time, involving a certain redhead who it now seemed that she was going to encounter again. She shakes off the thought and returns her thoughts to Harriet.

Harriet has a temper, Naomi's sure. There's no way that the woman's changed that much over the years, and she certainly had a way of bottling things up and always seeming on the verge of exploding. Given the right circumstance, and the right culmination events, it was possible. On the other hand, if she hasn't murdered James Cook yet, then Naomi isn't convinced. Then again, there are always other things to consider: means, opportunity. Motive isn't the only factor. Perhaps Harriet simply had taken the opportunities presented to her. Regardless, Naomi can imagine her as a killer, given the right circumstances. "The other?"

"Kieran Mac-"

"Kieran?" Naomi's jaw drops before she sets it hard. "My step-father is not a murderer. He's lost a lot of his anger since we were in school, and he deals with it in appropriate means. Any idiot can see that he doesn't have it in him," Naomi cuts him off, surprising herself at her own defensiveness of the man. Then again she's always had a bit of a soft spot for the man, even more so since he married her mum five years ago. They were good for each other, and she's never seen her mum happier. Kieran either, for that matter, despite all of the complaining about his students that he regales her with whenever she's around.

"Your step-father?" Thomas's eyes widen in surprise. "Right, well, our investigators drew much the same conclusion as you. The crimes do not fit him. Neither Katie nor Cook think him capable of murder," Thomas recovers quickly. "We have cautioned him to stay in town in case we have further questions, but I doubt that it will really be needed."

_Of__course__it__won__'__t,_Naomi thinks irritably to herself. She can't help but wonder why the man didn't tell her. Then again, she's only been home a few days and there's a lot to catch up on. She doesn't like to visit Bristol too frequently. _Never__know__who__you__might__run__into,_ Naomi thinks dryly. She settles herself, aware that flares of emotion are unprofessional. She takes a deep breath. "Good. If we are done here I would very much like to visit the crime scenes and go examine the evidence first hand."

Thomas nods, forcing a smile back on his face. "Of course. I will have Katie and Cook take you to the scenes and they can direct you anywhere that you need to go," Thomas complies.

Naomi smiles in return and starts to stand.

"Naomi? You should know that Emily works in the crime lab," Thomas adds, standing himself.

Naomi nods curtly. "I have been informed. It won't be a problem," she assures him. The last thing she needs is the local authorities doubting her objectivity or her ability to do her job.

"I have no doubt," Thomas smiles more genuinely. He can't help wondering if Naomi is aware that her pupils dilated at the mention of the woman.

"I'll report back when I have a basic profile of the perpetrator," Naomi informs him.

"Thank you, Naomi," Thomas says as the blonde leaves his office. _Things__just__got__even__more__interesting,_ he thinks to himself as he sits back down and leans back in his chair. _Very__interesting__indeed._

.

.

"Through there," Katie indicates the doorway. She hesitates, unsure if she should go into the lab as well. She wants to be there for Emily, but part of her feels like Naomi should do this alone. Then again, Effy's already in there with Emily, and Cook's making as if to follow the blonde in, so maybe there's nothing for it but to go along as well. Besides, she can't deny that she's a bit curious to see the reactions of both of them. She has no doubt that her sister still holds a bit of a torch for her old flame somewhere buried deep inside, even if she refuses to admit it. Katie wonders if Naomi is the same way.

Naomi takes a deep breath, but daren't pause too long with Cook and Katie right there, examining her. They might start to wonder, and really there's nothing to wonder about. Naomi marches through the door and freezes when a short familiar form looks up at the intrusion. Her hair's still red, but a more muted shade, a bit browner, more adult. It suits her incredibly well. It looks like it's grown longer, but Naomi can't be sure as it's swept up in a bun. She's got thin, black, square-framed glasses perched on her button nose. Beautiful and painfully familiar big, brown eyes look back at her from behind them. Even in her white lab coat, she's undeniably attractive. She hardly looks like she's aged at all, Naomi notes. Maybe she looks a bit mature (and a bit more sexy, if she's honest with herself, and she's trying hard not to be). Naomi allows herself to close her eyes for a second as a long forgotten burning awakens deep in her gut. She pushes it back. She's here to do a job, nothing more.

Emily swallows hard, and she can't stop the way that her eyes trail over the woman before her. There's no doubt in her mind who it is, even without Katie's warning from earlier and the anxious expression on her twin's face now. Naomi hasn't changed much, except for telltale bags under her still dazzlingly blue eyes, and a certain maturity to her look. Her blonde hair is dyed a slightly less harsh tone than it used to be. It's just above shoulder length and falls in soft waves around her face. The cream blouse that the woman is wearing screams professional in its high cut neckline, but the fabric can't help but hint at the curves beneath. The fitted brown slacks she's wearing hug her hips nicely, too, Emily notes. She looks even more beautiful than Emily remembered and it takes her breath away for a second. Only a second though because she's at work. She needs to be professional. She mentally compartmentalises, flipping the switch back to work mode. She forces a thin smile and steps forward, presenting her hand. "Naomi, nice to see you again," she greets her. "We're pleased that you came to help on the case."

Naomi steps forward and takes Emily's hand, forcing a smile onto her own face. She almost gasps in shock when electricity tingles through her at the contact with the smaller woman's skin.

Emily is surprised at the feelings that surge through her as their hands touch. She feels her heart begin to race but breathes deeply to try to control it. It's pointless to get worked up over the blonde, she knows. Things between them are long over. Naomi long ago made her position on even a strictly platonic relationship between the two of them known when she disappeared and didn't bother to keep in touch, Emily reminds herself.

Effy glances at Katie who's staring at her sister with obvious concern. She has no doubt that her girlfriend didn't miss the way that both women seemed to flinch ever so slightly when their hands met. Effy can't help thinking that things are about to get awkward...Interesting, but very awkward. She steps forward to break the tension that's descended upon the room. She's not offended that Naomi hasn't noticed her yet. The blonde's eyes have yet to leave Emily for a second.

"Can't wait for you to dazzle us with your brilliant insight," Effy adds, extending her own hand.

Naomi becomes painfully aware of the way that she's still holding on to Emily's hand, and she pulls it away self-consciously. She turns towards the woman who's just spoken, tearing her eyes away from the petite redhead. They widen when she takes in exactly who has just welcomed her. She's surprised to find herself actually pleased to see the slender brunette. They'd been friends of a sort once upon a time. "Effy Stonem?" she asks, almost not believing her own eyes. A genuine smile spreads slowly across her face.

"The one and only," Effy replies with a smirk.

Naomi startles even herself by pulling the slender girl into a quick hug, then pulls away when she realises what she's doing. _Professional,_ she reminds herself. Against her will, her eyes dance back to run over Emily's features once again.

Katie can't help but smile at her girlfriend for stepping in and making the whole situation marginally less awkward. _It__'__s__why__you__lo-_. Katie stops her thought dead in its tracks. _It__'__s__why__you__like__her_, she corrects. She allows her eyes to graze down her girlfriend's body. It's hard not to now that she knows exactly what's under that lab coat (not to mention what's under the tight slacks and button down shirt beneath that).

Naomi turns back to Emily, fighting down the tightening of her stomach as she takes her in once again. "I'd like to take a look at the evidence you've analysed, if you don't mind?"

"Of course. I'll show you what we've found. It's not much I'm afraid," Emily replies.

Naomi nods. "Sometimes things that seem like they're not much can actually turn out to be important, especially when put in context. It's good for me to see everything." She pulls the folder out from under her arm and opens it up, pulling out the crime scene photographs that she had requested from Katie earlier. She heads to an open area on one of the tables and begins to spread them out so that they create as complete a picture as they can. It'll give her an idea of what she's looking at until Katie and Cook take her to the actual scenes later. "Let's start with what was found on the body," Naomi suggests.

Emily nods, and quickly moves to a corner of the room where she's neatly organised the analysed evidence and pulls out a box, hauling it over to the table. She keeps a careful distance from Naomi as she begins to extract the evidence from the box. _There__'__s__a__killer__on__the__loose.__Focus__on__the__evidence,_ she reminds herself as her fingers accidently brush against Naomi's as she spreads out the evidence. It sends and excited tingle through her entire body.

"The DNA came back from Doug's murder. Only his blood was found at the scene. We haven't gotten it back for Crispin's murder yet," Emily informs Naomi.

She sets to work explaining what little trace they'd discovered, and Effy moves to her side, putting a comforting hand on the small of her back and adding her own tidbits of information. Emily feels herself relax marginally. All these years of working with Effy, and now with her dating Katie, the woman had practically become like another sister to her. Emily couldn't help feeling relieved at her silent support.

"I was kinda hoping for a reunion shag," Cook mutters to Katie who hits him in the gut. Not too hard, but hard enough to be a warning.

"You two were some of the first on scene?" Naomi looks up from the evidence and nods towards Katie and Cook.

"Yeah," Katie confirms.

"Your input could be valuable. Would you mind?" Naomi requests, gesturing towards the table. She's breathing a bit easier now that she's falling into the familiar patterns of work.

"Sure," Katie consents, and moves to the table, slipping into place beside her girlfriend. She shoots her a quick smile and is rewarded by Effy edging closer to her so that their shoulder's brush against each other.

Naomi glances up and takes in their body language in surprise. Is it possible that-? No. It couldn't be. Katie Fitch and Effy Stonem? Naomi's brows furrowed. That's certainly an interesting turn of events. She'll have to ask Effy later. _No,_ she corrects herself. _You__'__re__here__to__work.__Don__'__t__get__drawn__into__their__personal__lives._

Cook decides that he's not needed. Katie's got things under control, and she can say everything they saw at the crime scene just as well as he can. "I've got paperwork to finish, Katiekins. See you downstairs in a bit?"

Katie nods and Cook turns on his heels and leaves. He's not surprised to find James Fitch standing just outside the doors. Katie had threatened him with bodily harm against accompanying them, but James was good at following commands from his sister precisely to the letter, which often meant finding the loophole in them. In this case he'd obviously realised that "following" was different from "accompanying".

"No shagging then?" James inquires hopefully.

"'Fraid not, mate," Cook replies, wrapping an arm around the younger man and chuckling softly to himself. "'Fraid not."

"Did...Did Ems seem alright?" James asks.

Cook pauses for a second. James, for the most part, is a little perv. It's part of why he and Cook get on so well. Every once and a while, however, the young man demonstrates a concern for his sisters that makes Cook proud. James definitely has potential. He'll be a real man yet, Cook reckons. (After all, if there's anything that Cook's learned, it's that people in life always need a bit of compassion.) "Yeah, mate. Your sister's strong, you know that. She's fine," Cook assures him.

"Good," James says determinedly. "Shame about the lack of shagging though," he adds.

Cook can't help it. He howls in laughter.


	9. Outside Help part 3

"I'm not riding in the back," Naomi declares, staring at Katie, Cook, and James all standing around the car.

"Well, I'm not riding in the back," Cook counters.

"I'm driving," Katie points out.

"I always bloody ride in the back," James grumbles, knowing that he doesn't have a shot in hell at sitting the front.

Naomi stares pointedly at them. She's not sitting in the back. It's not up for negotiations. It's not even like all four of them have to go.

Katie sighs heavily. "You two go do some paperwork or something else useful. I'll drive her," she volunteers.

Cook opens his mouth to protest, but one look at Katie lets him know that she's got her reasons for doing this and he's better off just going along with it. Sometimes it's nice having worked with someone so long that he can just read them that easily. He can guess at some of the reasons.

Katie gets into the driver's side without bothering to look expectantly Naomi. The blonde gets in the other side a moment later.

"Thanks," Naomi mutters because she feels like one is due.

Katie simply nods and starts the car.

The ride is silent for a while. It's not awkward per se, but there is a light tension in the air, and Naomi's just waiting for Katie to break it. She's not stupid. She can tell that the brunette has something on her mind. Truth be told she herself has several things on her mind, and much to her annoyance, only one of them is actually case related. Of course it fucking had to be a case here. Of course she had to run into bloody everyone she knew before. Especially _her_.

"Do you come back often?" Katie breaks the silence.

"What?" Naomi asks, caught off guard. She'd been lost in thought.

"To Bristol. Do you visit often?" Katie clarifies, trying not to let any exasperation show.

"No. Not if I can avoid it," Naomi replies honestly.

"Too good for us?" Katie suggests.

Naomi sighs. "Not at all," she murmurs softly as she watches the all too familiar sights flit past the window. That hadn't been the problem at all. If anything, Emily had been (and still is, probably) too good for her. Naomi isn't dense enough to not know that Katie's really talking about her twin.

The silence returns for the rest of their trip, and once they're on scene they both seem to pull themselves together. It's all work.

"So the body was positioned here?" Naomi stands in the place that she's deduced the body to be in based on the pictures she saw.

Katie nods. "Pool of blood there to your right," she adds. There's a task at hand. Past grudges need to be dropped and momentarily forgotten. Right here, right now, Naomi Campbell is the woman who could crack their case, not the girl who broke her sister's heart almost ten years ago.

Naomi nods, and, as she seems to not need further reminders to orient her, Katie steps back and lets Naomi do whatever it is she needs to.

Naomi takes in the area from the position that Doug was found in. There are a number of pubs a short distance away that can provide a location for the suspect to encounter the victim, pick him out, possibly even lure him away from. If the suspect waits for their victims, then they'd have to be patient. Naomi recognises one place at least as somewhere that was unlikely to turn out their clientele until long after they were legally allowed to remain open. She'd drunk there in college a few times.

Her mind flashes for a moment with bright red hair and a familiar shy smile, but she shakes it off. She's fucking at work. Five years on the job and numerous "relationships" and she's never once been distracted at work. Then again, until now she's always managed to avoid working in Bristol. She sighs, but sets her mind back to the task at hand.

She wanders to a nearby wall and leans as if waiting. She takes in her vantage point. She can certainly clearly see the entrance to three of the four nearby pubs.

"Where was Doug before he was murdered?" Naomi voices.

Katie becomes instantly more alert. "Barman placed him at the pub right down the road there," Katie indicates the one she means, "drowning his sorrows until just after midnight."

"Drowning his sorrows?" Naomi prods.

"His words, not mine, but given that he'd just had a fight with Harriet, I can see it being accurate," Katie elaborates.

"Did he go there often?" Naomi asks.

Katie shrugs. "According to the barman, he was there every time, to quote the man, 'the missus turned him out,'" Katie relays. "About once every two weeks if not more frequently according to accounts."

"So it could have been somebody who knew him and his habits, or somebody who was observing him. Either works," Naomi mumbles to herself.

"Pardon?" Katie inquires.

Naomi shakes her head. "Nothing. Sorry. Just thinking aloud."

Katie nods and leans back against the car, watching Naomi with mild interest.

Naomi's eyes turn upwards, looking for any local surveillance systems. Presumably the police had already checked any relevant ones in the area, but no harm checking for any private surveillance systems that they might have missed. There don't seem to be any that would cover the area that she's in. She strides back to where the body was found, a few metres away. No cameras would cover there either. It is a very good spot for criminal activities, she has to admit.

She returns to the wall and pulls out her pack of cigarettes, sticking one between her lips and lighting it before returning both the lighter and the pack to her pocket. She sweeps the ground with her eyes, takes in the general absence of cigarette butts. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean that the suspect doesn't smoke.

"Did you collect cigarette butts in the area to run DNA?" Naomi calls out.

"All hundred or so of them. We can't reasonably run DNA on all of them," Katie sighs. "There were no tell-tale groupings either, in case you wondered."

Naomi nods. It had actually been going to be her follow up question. Clearly Katie's grown a pretty sharp brain in the ten years since she's seen her. Then again, she always did have a brain (brain enough to trick her on a few occasions), apparently now she's just using more of it for more beneficial purposes. "Thanks," she mutters in reply.

She continues to take in the scene, observing it from the perspective of the perpetrator of the crime and of the victim, extrapolating what it might have been like for both, formulating her profile of the perpetrator. She returns to Katie's side when she's done.

"Crime scene number two, please," she instructs as she climbs into the car.

Katie rolls her eyes as she takes her seat behind the steering wheel. "I'm not your bloody chauffeur," she mumbles.

"Actually, at the moment, you kind of are," Naomi points out, unable to suppress the small grin that spreads across her face.

"Oh, shut up," Katie growls, but she starts the car and drives off. "Discover anything brilliant?"

"I'm getting a general picture of the victims and the perpetrator," Naomi relays. "Which reminds me, I'd like to see the residences of both victims after the next crime scene. We knew these people ten years ago, and I know you've done some interviews more recently, but I'd like to work on victimology for myself. For that matter, I'd like to re-interview a few people. Harriet for starters, and Crispin's dad. You said that was who he was closest to?"

"Yeah. Fucking arsehole too! Good luck getting any information out of him. He looked past me like I didn't exist and directed all of his responses to Cook and James. Fucking James!" Katie vents. "Chauvinistic pig!"

"Fun," Naomi grunts sarcastically. She knows the type. She's now not looking forward to that interview.

"Anyway, what do you mean, re-interview? We conducted thorough interviews with everyone," Katie mutters defensively.

Naomi sighs. It's not the first time she's heard that from local police. "I just may ask some questions that you may not think to ask. It's part of my training," Naomi explains.

Katie grumbles, "Whatever."

They ride on in silence. Katie's got questions on her mind, but it's hardly professional to ask them, and there's a murderer on the loose that they need to catch, so for now she'll hold her tongue. Still, she can tell, it's going to be a long day.

"Oh my God, I need a drink!" Katie groans as she slips her coat on.

Effy kisses her soothingly on the cheek. "She can't have been that bad."

"No, she wasn't, but it was just fucking strange, you know?" Katie vents.

"For her too, probably," Effy points out.

Katie sighs. She knows that Effy's probably right.

"Anyway, you'll get that drink in a minute. We all will," Effy points out.

"Thank God for that!" Katie says. "Ems, get a move on!" she hollers back into the lab.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Emily grumbles, appearing beside her sister. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah. We've just got to stop back downstairs and grab Cook and James," Katie replies. They head downstairs, and Katie's aware of her sister freezing beside her as they open the doors to the large room where her and Cook's desks are. She follows her twin's gaze and immediately knows why. Naomi is standing by the far door talking to Thomas. She takes Emily's hand in hers, encouraging her forward.

Emily can't help the way that seeing Naomi again just completely overwhelms her. If she wasn't still as stunningly beautiful as she'd always been, more so even, then maybe it would be easier. Earlier she'd managed because she'd been focused on work. Now her work day is done and she's headed out with friends. She's got nothing to distract her racing thoughts. She finds herself growing shyer as her sister guides her across the room, closer to where the blonde stands. It's stupid, she knows. She hasn't fucking been shy in years. Maybe having Naomi around is reverting her back to her sixteen-year-old self.

"Ready, Cook?" Effy asks, hopping onto his desk.

"Always, babe," he replies, flashing the three women a grin. He can't complain to having such lovely company all the time, even if they all refuse to sleep with him. Besides, Effy has been known to act as a rather spectacular wing man for him at times.

"James?" she inquires, nodding towards the young man in question, sitting nearby.

"Yeah," he nods, getting to his feet.

Katie's aware of Naomi finishing her conversation up nearby. She'll have to walk past them to leave. Katie debates the intelligence of the idea that's occurred to her. It's probably stupid, and she's aware that the last thing her sister probably wants to do today is spend more time with Naomi. It's not exactly at the top of her list of things to do either. Still, it would be rude not to invite her. They have to work with her, things may as well be civil, friendly even. As long as she has no intentions of getting back together with Emily, that is.

"Naomi," she calls out as the woman brushes past them.

Naomi stops and turns. She'd been hoping to slip out without them noticing her. She really just wants to go home to her mum's house and have a drink.

"We're all going out for drinks. Would you care to join us?" Katie offers, trying her best not to grit her teeth as she does so. She feels her girlfriend's arm snake around her waist, and she knows she's just done a good thing.

Naomi takes in Effy's arm sneaking around Katie's waist and has to remind herself not to have her eyes bulge out of her head, even though a social invitation from Katie Fitch would be reason enough for them to do so. Still, people who're just friends might touch each other like that. She has to remind herself not to jump to conclusions. She mulls over the invitation. She can tell that it was a little forced, but Katie did say the magic word, "drink". She glances at Emily, who's pulled her bun out so that her hair falls gracefully around her face. It's a bit longer than she remembers it, she realizes. It's incredibly attractive. It's also a reminder as to one of the many reasons why she should decline the offer. She's about to say some excuse when Emily clears her throat and shoots her a small smile.

"You should come," Emily offers. She doesn't know what possessed her to say it. It's a bad idea, probably. She just can't help herself. She wants to know what's happened to Naomi in the years between and they're certainly not about to discuss that at work. Anyway, it's too late now. The words are out there.

"Ok," Naomi hears her mouth agree before her brain has a chance to stop it. It's not what she'd meant to say. It's not a good idea. She knows that already. Nonetheless she finds herself following the five of them out of the station.

"I'll give you a ride, Naomikins," Cook offers, tugging her in the direction of his car.

"Thanks," she murmurs. She's relieved that at least she won't be trapped in a car with Emily.

"See you lovely ladies there!" Cook shouts to the others.

"See you!" Katie and Effy chorus back. Emily's too lost in her own thoughts to do anything more than wave as she climbs into the back of Katie's car next to James.

Cook turns to Naomi once they're both situated. "Right, something I want to say first," Cook declares.

Naomi's taken a bit aback. She hadn't expected a confrontation from Cook, but he's giving her a hard appraising look.

"Those girls in that other car, they're like family to me, right? Katie's my partner, and I've never had a better one. I love them. Don't go doing anything stupid and fucking that up, ok? I liked you back in the day, but don't go fucking with Emily's heart or that won't mean anything," he warns. He's not sure when he took on the unofficial roll of big brother, but he's taken the liberty of warning off a few of the dames he's deemed unworthy of Emily's affections, and even those he thinks are worthy he likes to have a chat with. He can't help but want to look out for the girls, although Katie and Effy have each other now, so he worries about them less.

Naomi's stunned into silence for a moment. If it wasn't being directed at her, the show of protectiveness would be rather touching. "Cook, I assure you that I have no intentions of getting involved with anybody here, or fucking with anybody's heart," she assures him when she regains her voice.

Cook shoots her a grin, then. "Good. Let's go get wasted!"


	10. Fresh Blood part 1

Naomi glances around the pub and sighs. She shouldn't have come. This is a mistake. She needs distance from these people, not closeness, not an opportunity for them to pry into her life or her to find out about theirs. She shouldn't care. They're from her past, not her present (though really only she exists in her present, and her mum and Kieran occasionally…then there's the odd woman or man who passes through for a night).

"Another scotch on the rocks, please, and make this one top shelf. I can tell the difference," she orders, setting her empty glass down on the bar.

"Your drink of choice has changed since college," Emily says in a friendly tone, but Naomi can't help thinking that there's an underlying accusation in her words.

"A lot has changed since college," is her terse reply.

Emily deflates immediately. She's not an idiot, and she's not the same girl who kept chasing after Naomi back in the day. She's not even sure she wants the blonde back in her life. She really has no idea who Naomi is anymore and Naomi doesn't really know who she is anymore either. Maybe it's better that way. "Another pint of cider, please," she requests when the bartender sets down Naomi's drink and turns expectantly to her.

Naomi frowns at the way that Emily automatically seems to close off, aware of the smaller woman's muscles tensing, and the shift so that she doesn't actively step away, but certainly leans away, tilting her head away even. Ok, so she might have been a tad unnecessarily brusque. She does still have to work with the woman. "Your drink order, too," she extends what she hopes will come across as an olive branch.

It works somewhat. Emily's stance relaxes a bit, and, when she grabs her cider, she shoots Naomi a small smile, but no more words are exchanged. Naomi finds herself following Emily back to the group despite her reluctance to actually be there. She takes a sip of the scotch and takes in the familiarity of it, sniffs in the distinct smell, swallows the contradiction of the liquid cooled by ice, still burning like fire. She doesn't grimace anymore. This is the taste of comfort on her tongue.

"So, Naomikins, what have you been up to the past ten years? Any special men or women in your life?" Cook greets her back to the table.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd really rather not discuss my personal life. I'm just here for the job," Naomi replies, forcing what she hopes comes across as a polite smile.

"Come on, Naomikins! We're all family here!" Cook tries again.

Naomi keeps the smile in place and shakes her head, not daring to look around and potentially meet Emily's gaze as she takes another sip of her drink.

"Well this was a good idea," Katie turns her head mutters in Effy's ear.

Effy wraps her arms around her girlfriend's waist and pulls her in closer. "Give it time," she coaxes.

Naomi can't help watching them. The possibility that homophobic, self-centred Katie Fitch is now dating the girl who, if Naomi remembered correctly, she'd had a somewhat tumultuous friendship with in college, is blowing her mind. Effy'd even cheated with one of Katie's boyfriends once. The argument over that had lasted the better part of six months, and even Naomi'd somehow managed to get roped into it, thanks to her relationship with Emily at the time. That was one of the issues she'd had with the relationship. It'd never felt like she was just dating Emily, but her whole family, too.

She watches as Effy whispers something in Katie's ear and the shorter girl giggles. There's a definite vibe coming off of them. All of their body language suggests a certain level of closeness. She can't not ask. The question is burning away inside her. "So, you two are together, right?"

"I thought you were just here for the job," Katie shoots back.

Effy pinches Katie's side, making her girlfriend squeal. "Let's just say Katie's a tiger in bed," she supplies with a wink at Naomi.

"Effy!" Katie reprimands at the same time that Emily and James groan their disgust.

"Must be a family thing," Naomi mutters, glancing at Emily as flashes of the naked redhead hovering over her with a truly sinful gleam in her eye enter her mind.

Emily and Katie both turn shocked expressions on Naomi. Katie's far too astonished to be grossed out yet.

Emily's cheeks flush bright red as she recalls several events in her past that might've been the basis for what Naomi's talking about. She internally scolds herself as her body betrays her and floods with heat. Those emotions and sensations should be buried deep. They have no place in her life right now.

There's an awkward silence descended on the group now, standing out against the background noise of the pub. Even Cook and James are keeping their mouths shut temporarily.

Naomi's about to mumble sorry, but fortunately Effy jumps in.

"Anyway, yes, we're together," she supplies.

Naomi nods. She really shouldn't have asked. How can she have been so stupid? She's here for work. Just work. She quickly downs the rest of her drink and heads back to the bar for her next one.

When she looks around, Effy's slipped in next to her.

"Dealing with issues you thought you'd left behind?" Effy suggests with a knowing smirk.

"Guess you haven't changed much. Still all seeing?" Naomi deflects.

Effy shrugs. "Aren't you, too, these days?"

"Sounds something like my job description," Naomi replies, allowing herself a small grin.

"Drink like this often?" Effy inquires, nodding towards the empty glass that Naomi's still cupping on the bar.

Naomi narrows her eyes, studying Effy a little closer, trying to read her. Was it an accusation or an innocent question? Knowing Effy, probably the former. She doesn't answer Effy, just turns and orders her drink from the barman.

Effy smiles to herself and turns to order another round for her and Katie. "She's single, you know," Effy informs Naomi as she takes the drinks from the bartender, and turns back to head back to the group. She knows Naomi will know who she means.

Naomi stands there dumbfounded, new drink in hand. She realizes too late that she should have replied, should have asked who Effy meant. By not doing so, she's given too much away. Besides, she's not really interested in that fact. Well, maybe a little. But not in a "she wants to do anything about it" kind of way. It answers a minor curiosity that she has, that's all. Naomi sighs, fully aware that she's lying to herself. She downs her drink and orders another before heading back to the group, slightly numbed. It's always easier to face people like this.

Emily can't help but look up when Naomi comes back. It shouldn't make her feel this way to be this close to Naomi after all these years. It's not like she's secretly been carrying a torch for Naomi all these years or something. She's moved on. She's dated other people. She's had serious relationships. She's even had her heart broken since. Sure, none of the more recent heartbreaks have hurt as acutely as the breakup with Naomi had, but that's only because Naomi was her first love.

"Emily, check out the tits on that redhead by the bar!" Cook nudges her in the side, distracting her, and she follows his gaze. "What's your gaydar saying? Gay or straight?"

The girl in question catches Emily's eye and winks. Emily smiles back coyly out of habit. This is a frequent game between her and Cook. Sometimes one of them ends up going home with whatever girl Cook spies, but more often than not neither does. "She's definitely one of mine," Emily replies smugly.

"Yeah, yeah. I saw the wink. Don't rub it in," Cook sighs overly dramatically.

Naomi feels her stomach clench unexpectedly, in a feeling she hasn't felt in years. It's definitely not a good feeling to be having now, either.

Emily lets out a small laugh, then catches sight of Naomi out of the corner of her eye, and stops. She's definitely not going home with the girl tonight. She's not going home with anyone, she reminds herself.

.

.

It had been a busy night. Eventful really. Ended on a high note at least. He'd died with a flare. The right flare, finally. It had been rather satisfying. He'd been a right tosser. He'd certainly had it coming. Especially with a comment like the one he'd made. He obviously had no taste. He was obviously the type of guy who wouldn't know talent if it hit him over the head. Oh wait…It had.

"Victim's been identified as one David Blood," the small, nervous constable informs Katie, James, Cook and Naomi when they arrive on scene, handing over the driver's license he'd recovered from the body to Katie.

"That arsehole? Fucking tried to kick me out our last year of college! Do you remember that shit?" Cook declares.

"And me, my first year at Roundview," James voices.

"Did either of you kill him?" Naomi asks with a hint of humour in her voice.

"No, but I wouldn't have minded giving him a good punch to the jaw," Cook replies.

"I'm not going to shed a tear for him. That's for sure," James seconds.

"Don't speak ill of the dead," Katie scolds, more out of habit than because she disagrees with his words.

"Perhaps another disgruntled student killed him, and it's not related to the other cases," James suggests.

"It's related," Katie and Naomi chime in unison, voices full of certainty.

James and Cook share a look, then turn questioningly to Naomi and Katie, waiting for one of them to elaborate how the know this so quickly after arriving on scene.

"Glitter in the blood," Katie points. It was one of the first things she checked for on her initial survey of the scene.

"And a musical note drawn on the body in the glittery blood. It's similar to the one Katie found at the previous crime scene, but a little better done, and, of course, actually on the body this time. The killer is developing his skills," Naomi says.

"So it's a him then?" Cook asks.

Naomi shakes her head. "No, not necessarily. Sorry. I should have said his or her skills. I'm still not sure on that point. We do, however, now officially have a serial killer on our hands. Three different victims found at three different locations."

Katie nods grimly.

"Looks like there'll be plenty of DNA samples again," Cook mutters as he takes in the scatterings of cigarette butts and a few used condoms.

"All of them most likely as equally useless as those at the previous crime scenes," Katie sighs.

"Emily's gonna love us," James comments sarcastically.

"At least she gets a full night's sleep tonight, while we're out here mucking about a crime scene," Katie replies.

"Lucky bugger," James grumbles as he stifles a yawn.

"Right. James go interview people, and try to take thorough notes this time," Katie instructs.

James shoots her a glare, but does as he's told. He'd taken thorough notes last time as far as he was concerned. Katie hadn't thought that the phone number of the cute brunette he'd been talking to counted, for some reason.

"Cook?" Katie asks.

"I'll take the body. You take the surroundings," he decides.

Katie nods and is about to start her methodical search of the perimeter of the scene, when she remembers that Naomi's standing there. She shoots the blonde a questioning look.

"Don't worry about me. I've got my own methods. It helps to see a fresh crime scene. Makes it a little easier to put myself in both the victim's and the killer's minds," Naomi explains.

"Okay. I'll leave you to it," Katie replies.

Naomi closes her eyes for a second and takes a few deep breaths. When she opens her eyes again, she's seeing the scene as the killer might have. At least two clubs within walking distance. Busy ones, too, if the stragglers just now heading home are anything to judge by. Enough people in each that nobody would notice the comings and goings of one person. This particular alley is dark though, providing enough cover for anyone wanting to commit any range of crimes.

If the killer is female, then it would have been easy for her to lure someone down here, and should anyone pass by, she could have simply pretended to be halving a romantic affair with the victim. Strangulation was up close and personal. In the dark, most people wouldn't have looked close enough to tell that that was really what was going on.

Then again, most people won't intervene or even call the police if they see an argument. Most people think it's better not to get involved. They don't want any trouble. So even if the killer is a man, people probably wouldn't have looked too closely.

"Naoms," Cook calls, shaking Naomi out of her thought process.

He's beckoning for her to approach so she does so.

"Got a difference in this case," he continues. "Look at the head. None of the others had any head wounds. He's got a bash there. Fresh blood. I have to wait for JJ to get here to touch the body, and he could give us a better idea of what he was hit with, but maybe this one put up a bit more of a fight?"

Naomi muses over the possibility. Perhaps that's the case. She glances at the hands and notes that the fingernails look clean and well manicured. They seem to lack any defensive wounds. "Or perhaps the killer is simply getting a bit overzealous," she offers an alternative theory.

That's dangerous if it's true. It might mean that the killer will become more unpredictable. The killer is definitely evolving, but perhaps he or she is starting to lose a bit of control as well. The death count could go up quickly if that's the case. As it is the victims don't seem to have been stalked long term. The killer is more impulsive than many. Not sloppy. Not yet.

Naomi sighs. "Thanks for pointing that out," she says to Cook before returning to what she'd been doing before.

Cook nods and resumes taking in the scene around the body. "Messy," he mumbles to himself. This whole fucking business is messy. Some serial killer has the balls to be running around his city and killing off people he actually knows (even if he didn't like them all that much). It feels almost like the killer's baiting him, but that can't be true.

He spares a glance back in Naomi's direction, and can't help thinking that things are only going to get messier, and in more ways than one.


	11. Fresh Blood part 2

**A/N: I seriously, seriously do not know why I'm updating this except that I already had half a chapter sitting on my desktop for the last year or so, and FitchSwitch just read the rest of this story and informed me that I have to finish it (which I don't promise at all). At any rate, I know there probably isn't any interest in this anymore, but I'm posting a chapter anyway. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skins or the characters. **

**.**

**.**

"I want to bring Harriet in and charge her."

"Evenin' CP Freds, sir, fancy seeing you around these parts," Cook greets his old friend with mock formality.

Freddie rolls his eyes. Ever since he'd decided to become a Crown Prosecutor, Cook had given him shit for it. "Cook, we had drinks last week. I met you here. We live two streets over from each other."

"Yeah, but you're busy with all that legalese stuff now, ain't ya?" Cook replies.

"Hey, Freddie," Katie interjects, crossing over to give Freddie a kiss on the cheek before handing over the M.E. report to Cook, and sitting back.

"Hey, Katie," Freddie greets her warmly. "I think we should charge Harriet."

Katie frowns. "I think it's premature."

"Look at who the victims are! Her boyfriend who she had arguments with all the time, a student she couldn't fucking stand, and now the man who replaced her as headmaster," Freddie reasons. "She started with Doug because he was the closest to home, the easiest to get her hands on. She knew his habits. Once she got the taste of blood she decided to go after the other people she held grudges against!"

"There's a certain logic to that," Naomi interjects. She'd wondered into the room just as Freddie was beginning his explanation of things, and it had taken her a second to get over the shock of seeing how the tall, thin boy she'd once known had filled out and become a man.

"Naomi!" Freddie's face lights up when he turns to see her standing there. "I'd heard you were working with us, but I didn't believe it!" He wraps her in a tight hug, overwhelming her a bit.

She pats him hesitantly on the back. "Freddie McClair. Not someone I ever thought I'd see in the legal profession, I have to admit."

"What, but Cook you believe?"

Naomi's face breaks into a grin, and she glances at Cook. "Not really."

Freddie looks Naomi over. _She__'__s__still__beautiful_, he thinks, _but__she__looks__so__tired_.

"Anyway, you look good," Naomi offers, for once not just because she's sure it's expected of her.

"Still no idea of what weapon caused the injury to the head?" Cook asks, his eyes grazing over the report in his hands. "So we've got not fucking clue what this guy's stabbing them with, and now no idea what he's hitting them with?"

"That about sums it up," Katie confirms with a frown.

"You are going to love me," Effy announces, making her way through the desks.

Katie catches herself just before she says, "I already do." She swallows hard at the emotion that's suddenly overwhelmed her, pushing it back down so she can focus on her work. Nonetheless she finds herself automatically smiling like a fool at her girlfriend, so much happier just from her presence.

"Hello, Freds," Effy kisses Freddie on her way past before coming to a stop beside Katie and wrapping her arm around her girlfriend. "I know what the murder weapon is. One of them at least."

"Well? Don't leave us in suspense Ef," Cook urges impatiently.

Effy reaches past Katie to the back of her chair, grabs the silk scarf hanging there, and presents it with a flourish. "Tada."

"A scarf?" Cook scoffs.

"A silk scarf. High quality. JJ found a fibre on David Blood's neck, sent it to me for analysis. I examined bruise patterns and compared them to different scarves, and silk scarves had the most similarity. That with the fabric match. We should be able to match it if we find a scarf to compare it to. Maybe not the exact scarf, but narrow it down at least."

Katie kissed Effy full on the lips in excitement. Finally a fucking break. She didn't care that they were at work. "You are amazing."

Effy shrugged and grinned smugly. "I know."

"So the killer's definitely a woman, then," Cook says.

"Or likes to wear women's scarves," Katie counters.

"Or simply has access to women's scarves," Naomi adds. "The leverage with the scarf though would make it easier for someone of smaller stature to strangle victims bigger and stronger than him or her. Makes female even more plausible. She could even use her arms as better leverage for pinning his upper body all the while tightening the fabric around the victim's neck and cutting off their air supply."

"So search Harriet's house. If she's got silk scarves, bring her in," Freddie instructs, pushing off the desk he's leaning on and making to leave. "I've got to get back. Got research on a case going to trial tomorrow to finish up. Keep me informed, please."

"Right. See you, mate," Cook waves him off.

"We'll call you, Freds," Katie offers as the others say their goodbyes.

"I still don't think Harriet did it," Cook mutters once Freddie's gone.

Katie frowns. "I'm not convinced either, but she's our only viable suspect."

"So how about you take me out on a special, 'thank you for getting us a lead' date tonight?" Effy suggests with a grin.

"I suppose I could manage that," Katie replies, feeling familiar butterflies well up in her stomach at the thought of being alone with Effy. "But I actually have a favour to ask of you in return."

"Oh?" Effy probes.

"Family dinner tomorrow. My dad did say you were invited, and, well, I don't want to face my mum alone," Katie admits softly, aware that Miss All-seeing, All-analysing, Forensic Psychologist Campbell is lingering nearby, and Cook's apt to take the piss if he overhears, even though Katie's fully aware that he's afraid of Jenna, too.

Effy kisses Katie softly. "I'd love to."

Katie breathes a sigh of relief.

"You should go, too, Naomikins! Jenna'd really pay Katie no mind if you showed up!" Cook teases.

Katie rolls her eyes. So much for Cook not overhearing.

"I think I'd rather poke my own eye out with a stick, thanks," Naomi replies. "And I'm pretty sure, I'm not invited," she adds, not wanting to wonder why that causes a small pang of pain in her chest. _No__attachments,_ she reminds herself.

Cook shrugs. "Shame, that. I'd fucking pay to see Jenna's reaction to you being back, man."

Katie shivers at the prospect. Her mother would likely go ballistic. They'd probably end up with another murderer on their hands.

"Cook, go be cunt somewhere else," Effy instructs, sensing the tension in her girlfriend.

Cook sighs dramatically, but wonders off to do some paperwork nonetheless.

Again the words, "I love you," bubble up and threaten to slip out of Katie's lips. She pushes them down and settles for kissing Effy again. "Right, I should get back to work."

"Going to get Harriet then?" Effy asks.

Katie nods. "We've got to tie up a few loose ends here, then we'll head over to search her place. Bet she'll react wonderfully to that," Katie comments sarcastically.

"That's the job, babe," Effy reminds gently, knowing full well that Katie's never forgotten. She places a soothing kiss on her girlfriend's cheek before heading back to the lab. She's got a job of her own to do, after all.

.

.

"You have no right –"

"Actually, we have every right," Katie cuts Harriet off.

"We're the police, remember?" Cook adds with a smile.

"I'll be having words with whoever decided to hire you lot! I remember the trouble you caused, James Cook! If you're setting me up in retaliation –"

"Sorry to disappoint, Ms. Lawes, but you wouldn't even be top of my list of retaliation, and we don't work like that," Cook replies.

"I demand to know what you're looking for!" Harriet asks, hovering just over Katie's shoulder as she examines the contents of the first closet she finds.

It's full of coats, a few heavy-weight scarves, and an assortment of boots at the bottom. No lightweight silk scarves.

"Ms. Lawes, if you will just step aside and let us search, then we'll be out of your hair that much faster," Katie suggests, knowing better than to think that Harriet will actually follow her advice.

"Step aside? Let you search?" Harriet echoes, voice full of outrage. "I am NOT just going to let you ransack my house looking for God knows what so that you can plant evidence and so that James Cook can steal my valuables."

"I assure you, we will not remove anything that is not evidence, and if you are cleared you will get all of it back," Katie tries to calm her again as she heads down the hallway towards what she suspects is the bedroom.

"You can't go in there!" Harriet moves to block her path as Katie reaches for the door handle.

"Ms. Lawes, I think you'll find that I can and I will," Katie replies, starting to lose her patience.

"I absolutely refuse to let you go traipsing around my bedroom. That's private!"

"Ms. Lawes, I really do need you to step aside, please," Cook says standing firm just behind Katie. If Harriet's trying this hard to stop them, maybe she does have something to hide. Then again, people are rarely forthcoming when they search their houses.

"No!" Harriet stands defiantly, chin raised, and arms crossed across her chest.

"Ms. Lawes, we are going to check that room, one way or another," Katie informs her, fully prepared to be just as stubborn as Harriet. She has a job to do, and a crazy ex-headmistress is not going to stop her from doing it.

Harriet glares, but reluctantly moves just enough to the side that Katie can squeeze through.

"James Cook, don't you dare go in there. I will not have you rifling through my knickers," Harriet challenges him as he steps forward.

Katie glances back over her shoulder at him and nods. He can stay out. She'll handle the bedroom.

Cook steps back and takes in Harriet. She's gotten older, he can see now that he's studying her up close. Dark bags under her eyes indicate that she hasn't been sleeping well of late, either. Is that because she's been out strangling people with silk scarves at night? Or because she's been up grieving her on-again/off-again boyfriend? Cook would bet money on the latter, but he has to follow the evidence, even if his hunches always seem to take him far. Even he has to admit that they didn't have any other viable suspects.

"Bingo!" Katie calls from the bedroom. She appears back in the doorway dangling a silk scarf from each gloved hand.

Cook nods. He knows what's coming next will not go over well with Harriet. "Ms. Lawes, please turn around and place your hands on the wall. You are under arrest for the murders of Douglas Sparrow, Crispin Montgomery, and David Blood," Cook begins his spiel.

"David Blood? That bastard who they replaced me with at Roundview?" Harriet demands, not turning around, her surprise seeming genuine enough.

"Ms. Lawes, please turn around and place your hands on the wall," he repeats.

"I will do no such thing! This is ridiculous! You have no proof!" Harriet replies.

"Ms. Lawes, we can do this the hard way, or the easy way," Cook sighs. _Please__let__it__be__the__easy__way,_ he adds in his head.

.

.

"Heard you had quite a time getting Harriet in," Effy greets Katie with a smirk and a kiss on the cheek.

Katie rolls her eyes. "To say she was uncooperative would be an understatement," she replies.

"Well, at least you don't have the developing shiner that Cook's got," Effy says.

"News really does travel ridiculously fast here," Katie remarks, unable to keep the grin from her lips. In all fairness to Harriet, Katie really doesn't think that she intended to elbow Cook in the eye, but it is definitely going to leave a bruise regardless. "Made any more progress on that wound track?"

"All I seem to be able to do is rule things out. I can't seem to rule anything in. Look," Effy says, moving to where she has several photographs and a few moulds of the wound set up, "it's almost square. The closest I've come so far is one brand of knife sharpener, but that would have left some sort of residue in the wound besides the dirt that JJ found. Small particles of metal or something."

"What about some sort of industrial tool? There must be square ones, right?"

"I've found a few, but either the size is wrong, they have a point, which the wound track does not, or they have some other marking that just doesn't fit. And again I'd expect to find some sort of metal residue on most tools," Effy shakes her head.

Katie slips her arm around Effy's waist, aware of the tension and frustration her girlfriend is feeling. "You'll figure it out, babes. I know you will."

"I'm running out of options," Effy replies pulling Katie a little closer and taking comfort in her support.

"Well then you're bound to find the right one soon, right?" Katie says with a grin.

Effy smiles. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Get a room," Emily moans from behind them.

"We weren't even kissing!" Katie protests, turning a glare on her sister.

"You don't have to. You're being all ridiculously lovey-dovey and whatnot," Emily waves her sister's complaint away.

Katie stiffens slightly at the word 'love'. It echoes around her head and threatens to spill from her tongue. She moves away from Effy and crosses to her sister instead, straightening her clothes under the guise of being professional, although she can't help worry that her all-seeing girlfriend will see through the act and know it's really that she's flustered. "So, Ems, you have anything useful for us, then?"

"Sorry. DNA at all crime scenes is still coming up to a gazillion perfectly innocent individuals. Or at least individuals who are perfectly innocent of these crimes. There has been no trace of Harriet or Kieran at any of the crime scenes."

"Kieran is a ridiculous suspect. Stop pretending that he's a real one," Naomi says, her voice ringing out clear and strong around the lab.

Emily stiffens instantly. She swallows hard, trying to compose herself. She's just not used to having Naomi around again. She briefly thinks that maybe Naomi would be open to the idea of wearing a bell somewhere on her person so that Emily will at least have advanced notice of her showing up, and then realises that she's being ridiculous.

"Of course, Naomi. None of us really believe that he's a killer. I was just saying –" Emily begins.

"Get off your high horse, Campbell. You know as well as I do that we have to follow every lead, personal feelings aside," Katie cuts in.

"There's the Katie I knew and..." Naomi fades out, unable to find a suitable verb. Loved certainly doesn't fit, but hated doesn't either, really.

Katie rolls her eyes. "Whatever." She turns back to Emily. "What about epithelials on the scarves we brought you from Harriet's?"

"Won't have DNA back on them for a while," Emily replies apologetically.

Katie nods. "Let us know."

Emily looks back at Naomi, hating the way that her heart skips a beat as she finds those sharp blue eyes watching her. "Did you need something?" she inquires in a curt, but polite voice. She can't afford to deal with emotions at work. Not when there's a serial killer on the loose.

Naomi glances away, years of practicing emotional control the only thing keeping her cheeks from flushing at having been caught staring. "I was looking for Katie, actually. We're going to start interviewing Harriet in a minute. I was hoping you'd conduct the interview instead of Cook. I think she'll be more receptive to you."

Katie's eyes widen in surprise, then she reminds herself to be professional and nods, trying not to act as shocked as she feels. "Yeah. Sure. Be down in a minute."

"Thanks," Naomi replies. She finds herself unable to resist another glance Emily's way, and finds curious brown eyes looking back at her. Beautiful, brown eyes. Familiar brown eyes that produce a slight stabbing of pain somewhere in her chest that she's sure they shouldn't, and that she _knows_ they shouldn't at work. She pushes the feeling away, and nods politely in Emily's direction and then Effy's. "I'll be seeing you ladies soon, I'm sure," she says. "Please keep us apprised of any new developments."

"We will," Effy replies with a quick glance at Emily who has her mouth open, but can't quite seem to make coherent words come out. "See you later."

Naomi's eyes flicker back across Emily's face, dropping to her lips against her will, then she turns on her heels and leaves before she can do anything else stupid.

"Guess I should go with her, really," Katie sighs.

"See if you can't get a confession and close this case," Effy encourages, stepping towards her girlfriend and pulling her in for a quick kiss, ignoring the small groan of protest from Emily.

"I would if I really thought she did it," Katie replies.

Effy nods. "I don't think she did either. Maybe she'll give you a clue as to who did, though. Maybe Naomi can help."

"Let's hope so," Katie agrees. "You all right, Ems?" she asks. She didn't miss the effect that Naomi had had on her sister, and she doesn't like that Naomi already seems to have gotten back under her skin.

"Yeah. Fine," Emily replies, the picture of professionalism once more. "I'll text you as soon as the DNA from the scarves comes in."

"Thanks," Katie says, then shows herself out, leaving Effy and Emily to get back to work.

.

.

**Please hit that little button and drop me a few lines about what you thought/if you're still reading/if anyone apart from the two people I KNOW will read this chapter is actually reading it/stuff like that? It will make my day (and I really need a new day after a rather shitty/depressing/funeral filled weekend). **

**Thanks for reading. **

**xx**


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